In a share buyback a company spends its cash buying its own shares and cancelling them. The share count falls, so the same profit is split fewer ways: earnings per share rise and each remaining share owns a little more of the business, without anyone being paid anything.
Companies like buybacks because they're flexible — a dividend cut is headline news, a paused buyback barely registers. Some shareholders prefer them too, because there's no dividend to be taxed on, only a gain when they eventually sell. Whether a buyback creates value depends on the price paid: buying back overvalued shares destroys it. To compare a buyback company fairly with a dividend payer, use total shareholder return — price change plus dividends. The app records dividends, not buybacks, so a buyback shows up only in the share price.
Same profit, 11% more of it per share — and nothing paid out.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.