Know what's cool about share buybacks? By buying a bunch of your own stock with your own money, you get to set your own price on the market. If KBCorp is swirling the bowl and heading towards $3 a share, I can say "hey Hubskibank can I borrow $3 million" and instead of the shares hitting $3, they hit $6 because I'ma buy 500,000 shares at $6.
Know what else is cool about share buybacks? If there are 1 million shares of KBCorp that should be paying KBCorp investors 3 cents a share, and I buy half the outstanding shares, earnings per share doubles from 3 cents to 6 cents.
Know what sucks about share buybacks? They're the corporate financial equivalent of taking out a loan on your house to paint it so your neighbors don't think it's shabby. They don't add value, they don't change your fundamental position, but they give you a payment (with interest) you have to make every month.
- Corporate buybacks are a sign CFOs believe their stock is undervalued
Corporate buybacks are a sign CFOS believe the market is looking for a reason to sell their stock which causes their value to plummet which often triggers clauses in the loans they hold which causes things to get complicated.
