| Buyback Scorecard U.S. Share Buybacks Rebound but Face Sharp CriticismThe S&P 500 as Stock Repurchasers Best & Worst Programs |
The table below ranks industries by the weighted average buyback ROI of their S&P 500 constituents from September 31, 2012 through September 31, 2014. As calculated by Fortuna Advisors, a New York City-based consultancy that compiled the data for Institutional Investor, buyback ROI measures the overall rate of return of buybacks, based on the internal rate of return of the cash flows associated with them. Buyback strategy tracks the performance of the underlying stock in terms of annualized total shareholder return. Once Fortuna determines buyback ROI and buyback strategy, buyback effectiveness can then be calculated as simply the difference between the two, determined as compounded return.
| How Industries Compare as Stock Repurchasers | |||||||||
| Industry | Market Cap ($ Millions) | Total Buyback (S Millions) | $ Total Buyback as % Market Cap | Buyback Strategy | Buyback Effectiveness | Buyback ROI | |||
| Technology Hardware and Equipment | 1,168,921 | 124,028 | 10.6 | 14.8 | 20.3 | 38.1 | |||
| Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment | 432,201 | 23,163 | 5.4 | 24.4 | 10.8 | 37.8 | |||
| Transportation | 388,842 | 22,679 | 5.8 | 31.5 | -1.6 | 29.4 | |||
| Media | 646,803 | 57,291 | 8.9 | 32.2 | -3.1 | 28.2 | |||
| Healthcare Equipment and Services | 768,614 | 57,275 | 7.5 | 26.0 | 1.1 | 27.4 | |||
| Diversified Financials | 734,216 | 48,116 | 6.6 | 33.6 | -6.7 | 24.6 | |||
| Commercial and Professional Services | 116,104 | 6,116 | 5.3 | 26.5 | -1.6 | 24.5 | |||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences | 1,574,043 | 60,411 | 3.8 | 30.9 | -5.1 | 24.2 | |||
| Materials | 627,884 | 34,857 | 5.6 | 24.4 | -1.1 | 22.9 | |||
| Consumer Services | 328,908 | 12,968 | 3.9 | 18.3 | 3.5 | 22.4 | |||
| Capital Goods | 1,356,693 | 85,345 | 6.3 | 26.1 | -4.0 | 21.0 | |||
| Insurance | 493,830 | 33,192 | 6.7 | 28.3 | -7.1 | 19.1 | |||
| Software and Services | 2,082,110 | 118,728 | 5.7 | 18.1 | 0.4 | 18.6 | |||
| Banks | 1,086,961 | 39,465 | 3.6 | 27.1 | -6.8 | 18.5 | |||
| Automobiles and Components | 187,355 | 14,169 | 7.6 | 33.6 | -11.4 | 18.4 | |||
| Energy | 1,730,356 | 79,989 | 4.6 | 19.9 | -1.4 | 18.2 | |||
| Real Estate | 407,551 | 2,272 | 0.6 | 14.3 | 3.3 | 18.0 | |||
| Retailing | 787,947 | 54,833 | 7.0 | 22.0 | -5.0 | 15.8 | |||
| Food and Staples Retailing | 519,847 | 22,062 | 4.2 | 21.8 | -5.2 | 15.5 | |||
| Food, Beverage and Tobacco | 969,787 | 45,409 | 4.7 | 16.3 | -1.6 | 14.4 | |||
| Household and Personal Products | 372,848 | 19,195 | 5.1 | 15.2 | -3.9 | 10.7 | |||
| Utilities | 527,771 | 1,527 | 0.3 | 11.0 | -1.0 | 9.9 | |||
| Consumer Durables and Apparel | 266,654 | 11,223 | 4.2 | 22.4 | -11.5 | 8.3 | |||
| Telecommunication Services | 437,207 | 21,337 | 4.9 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 6.7 | |||
| S&P 500 | 18,013,452 | 995,650 | 5.5 | 22.8 | -0.5 | 22.2 | |||
| Source: Fortuna Advisors Analysis using data from the Capital IQ database. Financial Data from September 2012 to September 2014. Includes the 491 members of the current S&P 500 that were public for the full period. Market Capitalization as of: 09/30/2014. Companies included here if $ Total Buyback / Market Capitalization is greater than 4% or if $ Total Buyback is greater than $1 billion. | |||||||||