알파경제 - In the first quarter alone, share buybacks by publicly traded companies in the United States amounted to around 200 trillion won.

(Photo= Yonhap news)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] S&P 500 index constituent companies conducted a total of $181.2 billion in share buybacks during the first quarter of this year, up 16% compared to the same period last year.

Large tech companies such as Meta, Apple, Netflix, and Nvidia contributed to the increase with significant share buybacks. Meta alone purchased $14.5 billion worth of its own shares during the first quarter.

Considering Apple's recent announcement of its record-breaking $110 billion share buyback plan on May 2nd, the Wall Street Journal forecasts that the trend of share buybacks by U.S. companies will continue to rise.

Goldman Sachs estimates that share buybacks by S&P 500 companies will total $925 billion this year, with the figure expected to exceed $1.75 trillion next year, surpassing the trillion-dollar mark.

알파경제 Kim Minyoung (kimmy@alphabiz.co.kr)