S&P 500 Q3 2025 Buybacks Post Modest 6.2% Gain to $249.0 Billion After Declining 20.1% Amidst Uncertainty in Q2; Q4 2025 Expenditures Expected to Post Similar Growth, As 2025 Anticipates a Record $1 Trillion

NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) today announced the preliminary S&P 500 ® stock buybacks or share repurchases data for Q3 2025.

Historical data on S&P 500 buybacks is available at https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500/#overview.

Key Highlights:

"Companies dipped their cash back in the buyback market for Q3 after withdrawing in the second quarter over uncertainty, tariffs and economic policy and following the record Q1 2025 level. The increase expenditure of 6.2% after a 20.1% decrease shows the continuing cautious approach corporations have to cash outlays. Participation in buybacks ticked down to 66.6% from the Q2 67.6% rate and still pales the Q1 2025 76.8% participation rate. Buyback concentration from the top 20 issues decreased to 49.5% from the prior 51.3%, remaining higher than the historical 47.8% rate. Of note were the top four: Apple, NVIDIA, Alphabet and Meta Platforms, which accounted for over 22% ($55.2 billion) of the S&P 500's Q3 2025 total buybacks.

Continued buybacks resulted in share-count-reduction, which has also fueled higher issue level earnings-per-share, as 17.1% of the issues posted at least a 4% reduction in their year-over-year share count, increasing their EPS by at least 4%. The trend, which is contingent on earnings and cash-flow as well as market price levels, is expected to continue short-term, providing additional support for issue level earnings-per-share.

For the fourth quarter, policy direction has started to clear up, but remains volatile, resulting in corporate uncertainty continuing, and limiting discretionary buyback expenditures. Buybacks for the fourth quarter appear to have continued to trend up at a slow pace while remaining shy of their Q1 2025 record level.

For the full-year 2025, shareholder returns via buybacks and dividends from S&P 500 companies are expected to easily set a record expenditure, posting a near double-digit gain for buybacks and a mid-single-digit gain for dividends. The initial 2026 outlook for buybacks shows companies planning to increase their expenditure, with their expected cash-flow supporting their plans. Dividends are expected to post another record payment for the year, with the question being by how much," said Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

1% Buyback Excise Tax:

The 1% excise tax on net buybacks reduced Q3 2025 operating earnings by 0.36%, down from Q2 2025's 0.39% and down from the 0.42% for Q3 2024. The 12-month impact was 0.40%, down from the 12-month September 2024's 0.45%, as the tax on As Reported GAAP earnings impact decreased to 0.41% from Q2 2025's 0.42% and to 0.43% from 0.50% for the 12-month period.

Silverblatt added: "The 1% tax continues to be a manageable expense and has not impacted overall buybacks. At this point it does not appear that an increased buyback tax is on the Washington table, but things could change quickly as the Continuing Resolution bill expires on January 30, 2026. Given the current corporate sensitivity to costs, a buyback tax rate of 2% was seen as impacting both buybacks and the EPS impact of share-count-reduction. Under any potential increased tax, some of the buyback expenditures may shift to dividends. However, any shift was not seen as being on a-dollar-for-dollar basis as dividends remain a long-term pure cash-flow item which must be incorporated into corporate budgets."

Q3 2025 GICS® Sector Analysis:

Information Technology maintained its lead in buybacks as its expenditure's increased 5.2%, representing 28.4% of all buybacks for the quarter. Q3 2025 expenditures increased to $70.6 billion, compared to Q2 2025's $67.1 billion (and $80.2 billion in Q1 2025), and were up 10.3% from Q3 2024's $64.0 billion expenditure. For the 12-months ending September 2025, the sector increased its expenditure by 14.5% to $281.6 billion, representing 27.6% of all S&P 500 buybacks, compared to the prior 12-month period's $245.9 billion which represented 26.8% of all buybacks.

Financials increased buybacks by 26.3% for Q3 2025 as it collectively spent $65.3 billion on buybacks, which accounted for 26.2% of all S&P 500 buybacks. This was up for the quarter compared to Q2 2025's expenditure of $51.7 billion, and up 48.2% from Q3 2024's $44.1 billion. For the 12-months ending September 2025, Financials spent $218.6 billion, up from the prior period's $161.8 billion.

Health Care increased their buyback expenditures in Q3 2025, by 32.2%, the largest of any sector, as it spent $21.0 billion, up from the Q2 2025 $15.8 billion, as it represented 8.4% of the buybacks, as the 12-month September 2025 expenditure was $89.3 billion, up 20.2% from the prior 12-month's $74.4 billion.

Materials decreased its Q3 2025 expenditure by 21.0%, spending $3.6 billion, compared to the Q2 2025 expenditure of $4.6 billion, and was down 18.3% from Q3 2024's $4.5 billion expenditure. For the 12-months ending September 2025, the sector spent $18.4 billion, down from the prior 12-month period's $17.8 billion.

Issues:

The five issues with the highest total buybacks for Q3 2025 were:

For more information about S&P Dow Jones Indices, please visit https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/.

S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P 500, $ U.S. BILLIONS

(preliminary in bold)

PERIOD

MARKET

OPERATING

AS REPORTED

DIVIDEND &

VALUE

EARNINGS

DIVIDENDS

BUYBACKS

DIVIDEND

BUYBACK

$ BILLIONS

YIELD

12 Mo Sep,'25 Prelim.

$57,047

$2,164.58

$1,994.76

$664.90

$1,020.27

1.17 %

1.79 %

2.95 %

12 Mo Sep,'24

$48,701

$1,900.66

$1,637.95

$616.16

$918.40

1.27 %

1.89 %

3.15 %

2024

$49,805

$1,966.53

$1,771.24

$629.62

$942.55

1.26 %

1.89 %

3.16 %

2023

$40,039

$1,787.36

$1,610.73

$588.23

$795.16

1.47 %

1.99 %

3.46 %

2022

$32,133

$1,656.66

$1,453.43

$564.57

$922.68

1.76 %

2.87 %

4.63 %

2021

$40,356

$1,762.75

$1,675.22

$511.23

$881.72

1.27 %

2.18 %

3.45 %

2020

$31,659

$1,019.04

$784.21

$483.18

$519.76

1.53 %

1.64 %

3.17 %

2019

$26,760

$1,304.76

$1,158.22

$485.48

$728.74

1.81 %

2.72 %

4.54 %

2018

$21,027

$1,281.66

$1,119.43

$456.31

$806.41

2.17 %

3.84 %

6.01 %

9/30/2025 Estimate

$57,047

$617.34

$550.73

$168.08

$249.00

1.17 %

1.79 %

2.95 %

6/30/2025

$52,501

$541.59

$498.87

$165.16

$234.57

1.25 %

1.90 %

3.15 %

3/31/2025

$50,166

$487.33

$456.65

$164.10

$293.45

1.28 %

1.99 %

3.27 %

12/31/2024

$49,805

$518.32

$488.51

$167.56

$243.24

1.26 %

1.89 %

3.16 %

9/30/2024

$48,701

$499.98

$439.39

$157.04

$226.56

1.27 %

1.89 %

3.15 %

6/28/2024

$45,843

$489.95

$397.69

$153.41

$235.93

1.32 %

1.91 %

3.23 %

3/28/2024

$44,078

$458.28

$400.90

$151.61

$236.82

1.35 %

1.85 %

3.20 %

12/31/2023

$40,039

$452.44

$399.98

$154.10

$219.09

1.47 %

1.99 %

3.46 %

9/30/2023

$35,938

$437.90

$399.35

$144.18

$185.62

1.61 %

2.19 %

3.81 %

6/30/2023

$37,162

$457.93

$405.66

$143.20

$174.92

1.55 %

2.19 %

3.74 %

3/31/2023

$34,342

$439.08

$404.57

$146.76

$215.53

1.67 %

2.50 %

4.17 %

12/31/2022

$32,133

$421.55

$331.50

$146.07

$211.19

1.76 %

2.87 %

4.63 %

9/30/2022

$30,119

$422.94

$373.04

$140.34

$210.84

1.83 %

3.26 %

5.09 %

S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P 500 proforma net buyback tax impact

TAX

TAX % OF

$ BILLIONS

OPERATING

AS REPORTED

Q3 2025

$2.25

0.36 %

0.41 %

Q2 2025

$2.13

0.39 %

0.42 %

Q1 2025

$2.43

0.50 %

0.53 %

Q4 2024

$1.93

0.37 %

0.39 %

Q3 2024

$2.11

0.42 %

0.48 %

Q2 2024

$2.20

0.45 %

0.49 %

2023

$7.47

0.40 %

0.45 %

2022 proforma

$8.47

0.51 %

0.58 %

2021 proforma

$7.93

0.45 %

0.47 %

S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P 500 SECTOR BUYBACKS

SECTOR $ MILLIONS

Q3,'25

Q2,'25

Q3'24

12MoSep,'25

12MoSep,'24

5-YEARS

10-YEARS

Consumer Discretionary

$14,279

$14,188

$20,605

$68,529

$83,536

$396,494

$768,342

Consumer Staples

$6,964

$6,626

$7,734

$40,284

$39,240

$180,932

$369,907

Energy

$12,744

$12,668

$18,313

$59,396

$65,200

$255,192

$329,442

Financials

$65,305

$51,720

$44,054

$218,578

$161,844

$814,996

$1,464,662

Healthcare

$20,958

$15,850

$16,906

$89,339

$74,441

$409,399

$810,044

Industrials

$20,535

$21,332

$15,852

$91,605

$76,647

$360,967

$675,545

Information Technology

$70,601

$67,131

$63,981

$281,637

$245,911

$1,247,248

$2,170,208

Materials

$3,639

$4,610

$4,454

$18,359

$17,849

$102,577

$158,783

Real Estate

$585

$808

$204

$3,005

$1,795

$12,147

$24,678

Communication Services

$32,839

$38,708

$33,818

$146,145

$148,137

$656,597

$781,452

Utilities

$555

$929

$636

$3,391

$3,797

$13,179

$22,640

TOTAL

$249,004

$234,570

$226,557

$1,020,268

$918,398

$4,449,728

$7,575,704

SECTOR BUYBACK MAKEUP %

Q3,'25

Q2,'25

Q3'24

12MoSep,'25

12MoSep,'24

5-YEARS

10-YEARS

Consumer Discretionary

5.73 %

6.05 %

9.09 %

6.72 %

9.10 %

8.91 %

10.14 %

Consumer Staples

2.80 %

2.82 %

3.41 %

3.95 %

4.27 %

4.07 %

4.88 %

Energy

5.12 %

5.40 %

8.08 %

5.82 %

7.10 %

5.74 %

4.35 %

Financials

26.23 %

22.05 %

19.44 %

21.42 %

17.62 %

18.32 %

19.33 %

Healthcare

8.42 %

6.76 %

7.46 %

8.76 %

8.11 %

9.20 %

10.69 %

Industrials

8.25 %

9.09 %

7.00 %

8.98 %

8.35 %

8.11 %

8.92 %

Information Technology

28.35 %

28.62 %

28.24 %

27.60 %

26.78 %

28.03 %

28.65 %

Materials

1.46 %

1.97 %

1.80 %

1.94 %

2.31 %

2.10 %

Real Estate

0.23 %

0.34 %

0.09 %

0.29 %

0.20 %

0.27 %

0.33 %

Communication Services

13.19 %

16.50 %

14.93 %

14.32 %

16.13 %

14.76 %

10.32 %

Utilities

0.22 %

0.40 %

0.28 %

0.33 %

0.41 %

0.30 %

TOTAL

100.00 %

S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P 500 20 LARGEST Q3 2025 BUYBACKS, $ MILLIONS

Company

Ticker

Sector

Q3 2025

Q2 2025

Q3 2025

12-Months

5-Year

10-Year

Indicated

Buybacks

Sep,'25

Buybacks

Dividend

$ Million

Apple

AAPL

Information Technology

$20,373

$23,589

$25,361

$96,671

$100,390

$468,194

$755,231

$15,434

NVIDIA

NVDA

Information Technology

$14,885

$11,568

$12,676

$51,753

$34,463

$108,676

$115,125

$976

Alphabet

GOOGL

Communication Services

$11,504

$13,638

$15,291

$55,761

$62,862

$281,410

$342,445

$4,886

Meta Platforms

META

Communication Services

$8,462

$14,277

$12,361

$44,233

$48,203

$195,709

$230,350

$4,555

JPMorgan

JPM

Financials

$8,293

$7,506

$6,361

$27,628

$16,804

$73,551

$149,763

$16,499

Wells Fargo

WFC

Financials

$6,000

$3,016

$3,435

$16,516

$17,798

$64,825

$135,247

$5,766

Microsoft

MSFT

Information Technology

$5,650

$4,546

$4,107

$19,963

$16,530

$116,907

$199,882

$27,057

Bank of America

BAC

Financials

$5,300

$5,302

$3,534

$18,658

$10,380

$63,265

$136,990

$7,632

Exxon Mobil

XOM

Energy

$5,126

$4,964

$5,512

$20,674

$18,505

$67,681

$71,685

$17,565

Johnson Controls Internat'l

JCI

Industrials

$5,097

$312

$377

$6,100

$1,279

$10,858

$20,531

$1,047

Citigroup

Financials

$5,005

$2,015

$987

$10,499

$1,954

$25,741

$78,463

$4,418

Visa

Financials

$4,954

$4,794

$5,867

$18,597

$16,921

$68,278

$106,772

$4,552

Salesforce

CRM

Information Technology

$3,928

$2,237

$1,285

$8,874

$9,445

$28,247

$1,587

Mastercard

Financials

$3,335

$2,291

$2,935

$11,925

$9,580

$44,752

$68,175

$2,873

Charles Schwab

SCHW

Financials

$2,748

$333

$4,581

$10,818

$14,038

$1,843

QUALCOMM

QCOM

Information Technology

$2,681

$3,118

$1,438

$9,906

$5,053

$25,936

$59,185

$3,840

T-Mobile US

TMUS

Communication Services

$2,571

$2,585

$596

$12,634

$8,998

$36,437

$58,467

$1,974

HCA Healthcare

HCA

Health Care

$2,498

$2,505

$1,795

$9,209

$5,252

$32,577

$41,392

$472

Chevron

CVX

Energy

$2,482

$2,733

$4,714

$13,423

$13,932

$48,057

$54,177

$13,164

American Express

AXP

Financials

$2,351

$1,356

$1,935

$5,946

$5,890

$25,742

$43,186

$1,780

Top 20

$123,243

$112,685

$110,567

$463,551

$404,239

$1,797,661

$2,709,351

$137,919

S&P 500

$249,004

$234,570

$226,557

$1,020,268

$918,398

$4,449,728

$7,575,704

$674,035

Top 20 % of S&P 500

49.49 %

48.04 %

48.80 %

45.43 %

44.02 %

40.40 %

35.76 %

20.46 %

Gross values are not adjusted for float

S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P 500 Q3 2025 Buyback Report

SECTOR

DIVIDEND

BUYBACK

COMBINED

YIELD

Consumer Discretionary

0.63 %

1.13 %

1.76 %

Consumer Staples

2.56 %

1.44 %

4.00 %

Energy

3.43 %

3.63 %

7.06 %

Financials

1.42 %

2.80 %

4.21 %

HealthCare

1.71 %

1.60 %

3.31 %

Industrials

1.25 %

1.92 %

3.18 %

Information Technology

0.53 %

1.41 %

1.94 %

Materials

1.84 %

3.69 %

Real Estate

3.44 %

0.28 %

3.72 %

Communications Services

0.87 %

3.16 %

4.03 %

Utilities

2.88 %

0.26 %

3.15 %

S&P 500

1.19 %

1.81 %

2.99 %

Uses full values (unadjusted for float)

Dividends based on indicated; buybacks based on the last 12-months ending Q3,'25

Share Count Changes

(Y/Y diluted shares used for EPS)

>=4%

<=-4%

Q3 2025

5.00 %

17.14 %

Q2 2025

6.63 %

17.27 %

Q1 2025

5.80 %

13.80 %

Q4 2024

6.63 %

12.05 %

Q3 2024

5.01 %

13.63 %

Q2 2024

5.04 %

12.70 %

Q1 2024

4.62 %

13.25 %

Q4 2023

3.81 %

12.63 %

Q3 2023

4.60 %

13.80 %

Q2 2023

4.22 %

16.27 %

Q1 2023

4.02 %

18.47 %

Q4 2022

5.01 %

19.44 %

Q3 2022

7.21 %

21.24 %

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S&P Dow Jones Indices:

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[email protected]

SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices