- S&P 500 Q3 2024 buybacks were $226.6 billion, down 4.0% from Q2 2024’s $235.9 billion and up 22.1% from Q3 2023’s $185.6 billion
- The 12-month September 2024 expenditure of $918.4 billion was up 16.7% from the prior 12-month expenditure of $787.3 billion
- Consumer Discretionary increased spending by 13.5%, as Information Technology and Health Care reduced their spending by 6.4% and 10.2% respectively
- The net buyback 1% tax reduced Q3 2024 operating earnings by 0.42% and As Reported GAAP by 0.48%
NEW YORK, December 13, 2024: S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) today announced the preliminary S&P 500® stock buybacks or share repurchases data for Q3 2024.
Historical data on S&P 500 buybacks is available at www.spdji.com/indices/equity/sp-500.
Key Takeaways:
- Q3 2024 share repurchases were $226.6 billion, down 4.0% from Q2 2024’s $235.9 billion expenditure, and up 22.1% from Q3 2023’s $185.6 billion.
- For the 12-months ending September 2024, buybacks were $918.4 billion, up from $787.3 billion for the prior 12-month September 2023 period; the 12-month peak was in June 2022 with $1.005 trillion.
- 332 companies reported buybacks of at least $5 million for the quarter, up from 324 in Q2 2024 and up from 281 in Q3 2023; 381 companies did some buybacks for the quarter, up from 373 in Q2 2024 and up from 362 in Q3 2023; 425 companies did some buybacks in the last 12-month period, up from 420 in the prior 12-month period.
- Buybacks remained top heavy, as concentration increased, with the top 20 S&P 500 companies accounting for 53.2% of Q3 2024 buybacks, up from Q2 2024’s 52.3%, and above the historical average of 47.6% and the pre-COVID historical average of 44.5%.
- 13.7% of companies reduced share counts used for earnings per share (EPS) by at least 4% year-over-year, up from Q2 2024’s 12.7% and down from Q3 2023's 13.8%; for Q3 2024 174 issues increased their shares used for EPS over Q2 2024, and 277 reduced them.
- S&P 500 Q3 2024 dividends increased 2.4% to a record $157.0 billion from Q2 2024’s $153.4 billion and were 8.9% greater than the $144.2 billion in Q3 2023.
- For the 12-month’s ending September, dividends set a record $616.2 billion payments, up 6.2% on an aggregate basis from the prior 12-month September 2023’s $580.2 billion.
- Total shareholders return of buybacks and dividends decreased to $383.6 billion in Q3 2024, down 1.5% from Q2 2024’s $389.3 billion and up 16.3% from Q3 2023’s $329.8 billion.
- Total shareholder returns for the 12-months ending September 2024 increased 12.2% to $1.535 trillion from the prior 12-month periods $1.367 trillion.
- The 1% tax on net buybacks, which started in 2023, reduced the Q3 2024 S&P 500 operating earnings by 0.42%, down from Q2 2024’s 0.45%, as it reduced As Reported GAAP earnings by 0.48%, down from the prior 0.49%. For the 12-month September 2024 period, the 1% tax on net buybacks reduced earnings by 0.45% for operating and 0.50% for As Reported.
