S&P 500 Q2 2025 Buybacks Declines 20% Amidst Uncertainty to $235 Billion From Q1 2025's Record $293 Billion; Q3 2025 Expenditures Expected to Increase Back to Near Record Levels
Rhea-AI Summary
S&P 500 (NYSE:SPGI) reported Q2 2025 buybacks declined 20.1% to $234.6 billion from Q1 2025's record $293.5 billion, with expectations to return to near-record levels in Q3 2025. The 12-month buyback expenditure through June 2025 increased 13.7% to $997.8 billion.
Key highlights include: 338 companies reported buybacks of at least $5 million, with the top 20 companies accounting for 51.3% of total buybacks. Apple led with $23.6 billion in buybacks, followed by Meta Platforms ($14.3B), Alphabet ($13.6B), and NVIDIA ($11.6B). The 1% buyback tax reduced Q2 2025 operating earnings by 0.39%.
Total shareholder returns (buybacks + dividends) decreased 12.6% to $399.7 billion in Q2 2025, while setting a 12-month record of $1.652 trillion through June 2025.
Positive
- 12-month buyback expenditure increased 13.7% to $997.8 billion
- 17.3% of companies reduced share counts by at least 4% year-over-year, improving EPS
- Record 12-month shareholder returns of $1.652 trillion, up 11.5%
- Q3 2025 buybacks expected to return to near record levels
- Dividends increased 7.7% year-over-year to $165.2 billion in Q2 2025
Negative
- Q2 2025 buybacks declined 20.1% from Q1 2025's record levels
- Buyback participation decreased to 67.6% from 76.8% in Q1 2025
- Health Care reduced spending by 39.3%, Information Technology by 16.3%
- Total shareholder returns decreased 12.6% quarter-over-quarter to $399.7 billion
News Market Reaction 72 Alerts
On the day this news was published, SPGI declined 4.31%, reflecting a moderate negative market reaction. Our momentum scanner triggered 72 alerts that day, indicating high trading interest and price volatility. The stock closed at $520.67 on that trading session. This price movement removed approximately $7.16B from the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $158.96B at that time. Trading volume was elevated at 2.1x the daily average, suggesting increased selling activity.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
- S&P 500 Q2 2025 buybacks were
, as the expenditure declined$234.6 billion 20.1% from the record Q1 2025 and was down$293.5 billion 0.6% from Q2 2024's$235.9 billion - The 12-month June 2025 expenditure was
and was up$997.8 billion 13.7% from the 12-month June 2024 expenditure of$877.5 billion - Utilities was the only sector to increase spending, up
16.5% over Q1 2025, Health Care reduced spending by39.3% , Information Technology by16.3% and Communication Services by15.0% - The net buyback
1% tax reduced Q2 2025 operating earnings, which are set to post a quarterly earnings record, by0.39% and As Reported GAAP by0.42% , as the 12-month cost was0.42% and0.45% , respectively
Historical data on S&P 500 buybacks is available at https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500/#overview.
Key Highlights:
- Q2 2025 share repurchases were
, down$234.6 billion 20.1% from Q1 2025's record expenditure, and down$293.5 billion 0.6% from Q2 2024's .$235.9 billion - For the 12-month June 2025 period buybacks were
, up from$997.8 billion from the prior 12-month period; the 12-month peak was in June 2022 with$877.5 billion .$1.00 5 trillion - 338 companies reported buybacks of at least
for the quarter, down from 384 in Q1 2025 and up from 324 in Q2 2024; 386 companies did some buybacks for the quarter, down from 402 in Q1 2025 and up from 373 in Q2 2024; 437 companies did some buybacks in the 12-month June 2025 period, up from 419 in the prior period.$5 million - Buybacks remained top heavy as concentration increased, with the top 20 S&P 500 companies accounting for
51.3% of Q2 2025 buybacks, up from Q1 2025's48.4% , and above the historical average of47.7% and above the pre-COVID (Q4 2019) historical average of44.5% . 17.3% of companies reduced share counts used for earnings per share (EPS) by at least4% year-over-year, up from Q1 2025's13.8% and up from Q2 2024's12.7% ; for Q2 2025 131 issues increased their shares used for EPS compared to Q1 2025 and 325 reduced them.- S&P 500 Q2 2025 dividends increased
0.6% , to from Q1 2025's$165.2 billion and were$164.1 billion 7.7% greater than the in Q2 2024.$153.4 billion - For the 12-month June 2025 period, dividends set a record
payment, up$653.9 billion 8.4% on an aggregate basis from the prior 12-month's .$603.3 billion - Total shareholders return of buybacks and dividends decreased to
in Q2 2025, down$399.7 billion 12.6% from Q1 2025's and up$457.6 billion 2.7% from Q2 2024's .$389.3 billion - Total shareholder returns for the 12-month June 2025 period increased
11.5% to a record from the 12-month June 2024's$1.65 2 trillion .$1.48 1 trillion - The
1% tax on net buybacks, which started in 2023, reduced the Q2 2025 S&P 500 operating earnings by0.39% , down from Q1 2025's0.50% , as it reduced As Reported GAAP earnings by0.42% , down from the prior0.53% . For the 12-months ending in June 2025, the1% tax on net buybacks reduced earnings by0.42% for operating and0.45% for As Reported.
"Companies pulled back on buybacks in the second quarter as uncertainty over tariffs and economic policy increased significantly, resulting in more cautious corporate cash outlays for the period. Participation in buybacks (
Continued buybacks resulted in share-count-reduction, which has also fueled higher issue level earnings-per-share, as
For the third quarter, as volatility and uncertainty continue, policy direction has started to clear up, permitting companies to plan and spend. Buybacks are expected to return to near first quarter record levels. Based on the continued upward market performance, companies will need to spend more to satisfy employee options, which is expected to increase patriation and add to stock support prices.
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 double-digit gain for buybacks and a mid-single-digit gain for dividends," said Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The
Silverblatt added: "The
Q2 2025 GICS® Sector Analysis:
Information Technology maintained its lead in buybacks as its expenditure's decreased
Financials decreased buybacks by
Communication Services decreased its Q2 2025 expenditure by
Utilities were the only sector to increase their buyback expenditures in Q2 2025, representing the smallest share (
Issues:
The five issues with the highest total buybacks for Q2 2025 were:
- Apple (AAPL): continued to dominate the issue level buybacks as it again spent the most of any issue with its Q2 2025 expenditure, ranking as the tenth highest in S&P 500 history. For the quarter, the company spent
, down from Q1 2025's$23.6 billion . Apple holds 19 of the top 20 record quarters (Meta Platforms holds #19). For the 12-month period ending June 2025, Apple spent$26.2 billion on buybacks, up from the prior 12-month's$101.7 billion . Over the five-year period, Apple has spent$96.3 billion , and$465 billion over the ten-year period.$748 billion - Meta Platforms (META):
for Q2 2025, down from$14.3 billion in Q1 2025. The 12-month expenditure was$17.6 billion versus the prior 12-month's$48.1 billion .$41.5 billion - Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL):
for Q2 2025, down from$13.6 billion in Q1 2025. The 12-month expenditure was$15.1 billion versus$59.5 billion .$63.4 billion - NVIDIA (NVDA):
for Q2 2025, down from$11.6 billion in Q1 2025. The 12-month expenditure was$15.6 billion versus$49.5 billion .$26.4 billion - JP Morgan (JPM):
for Q2 2025, a tick down from$7.50 6 billion in Q1 2025. The 12-month expenditure was$7.52 8 billion versus$25.7 billion .$12.8 billion
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, $ | (preliminary in bold) | |||||||
PERIOD | MARKET | OPERATING | AS REPORTED | DIVIDEND & | ||||
VALUE | EARNINGS | EARNINGS | DIVIDENDS | BUYBACKS | DIVIDEND | BUYBACK | BUYBACK | |
$ BILLIONS | $ BILLIONS | $ BILLIONS | $ BILLIONS | $ BILLIONS | YIELD | YIELD | YIELD | |
12 Mo Jun,'25 Prelim. | 1.30 % | 1.99 % | 3.29 % | |||||
12 Mo Jun,'24 | 1.37 % | 1.99 % | 3.36 % | |||||
2024 | 1.26 % | 1.89 % | 3.16 % | |||||
2023 | 1.47 % | 1.99 % | 3.46 % | |||||
2022 | 1.76 % | 2.87 % | 4.63 % | |||||
2021 | 1.27 % | 2.18 % | 3.45 % | |||||
2020 | 1.53 % | 1.64 % | 3.17 % | |||||
2019 | 1.81 % | 2.72 % | 4.54 % | |||||
2018 | 2.17 % | 3.84 % | 6.01 % | |||||
6/30/2025 Prelim. | 1.25 % | 1.90 % | 3.15 % | |||||
3/31/2025 | 1.28 % | 1.99 % | 3.27 % | |||||
12/31/2024 | 1.26 % | 1.89 % | 3.16 % | |||||
9/30/2024 | 1.27 % | 1.89 % | 3.15 % | |||||
6/28/2024 | 1.32 % | 1.91 % | 3.23 % | |||||
3/28/2024 | 1.35 % | 1.85 % | 3.20 % | |||||
12/31/2023 | 1.47 % | 1.99 % | 3.46 % | |||||
9/30/2023 | 1.61 % | 2.19 % | 3.81 % | |||||
6/30/2023 | 1.55 % | 2.19 % | 3.74 % | |||||
3/31/2023 | 1.67 % | 2.50 % | 4.17 % | |||||
12/31/2022 | 1.76 % | 2.87 % | 4.63 % | |||||
9/30/2022 | 1.83 % | 3.26 % | 5.09 % | |||||
6/30/2022 | 1.70 % | 3.15 % | 4.85 % | |||||
S&P Dow Jones Indices | |||
S&P 500 proforma net buyback tax impact | |||
TAX | TAX % OF | TAX % OF | |
$ BILLIONS | OPERATING | AS REPORTED | |
6/30/2025 | 0.39 % | 0.42 % | |
3/31/2025 | 0.50 % | 0.53 % | |
2024 | 0.44 % | 0.50 % | |
12/31/2024 | 0.37 % | 0.39 % | |
9/30/2024 | 0.42 % | 0.48 % | |
6/30/2024 | 0.45 % | 0.49 % | |
3/31/2024 | 0.47 % | 0.54 % | |
2023 | 0.40 % | 0.45 % | |
2022 proforma | 0.51 % | 0.58 % | |
2021 proforma | 0.45 % | 0.47 % | |
S&P Dow Jones Indices | |||||||
S&P 500 SECTOR BUYBACKS | |||||||
SECTOR $ MILLIONS | Q2,'25 | Q1,'25 | Q2'24 | 12MoJun,'25 | 12MoJun,'24 | 5-YEARS | 10-YEARS |
Consumer Discretionary | |||||||
Consumer Staples | |||||||
Energy | |||||||
Financials | |||||||
Healthcare | |||||||
Industrials | |||||||
Information Technology | |||||||
Materials | |||||||
Real Estate | |||||||
Communication Services | |||||||
Utilities | |||||||
TOTAL | |||||||
SECTOR BUYBACK MAKEUP % | Q2,'25 | Q1,'25 | Q2'24 | 12MoJun,'25 | 12MoJun,'24 | 5-YEARS | 10-YEARS |
Consumer Discretionary | 6.05 % | 6.20 % | 7.70 % | 7.50 % | 9.32 % | 8.66 % | 10.56 % |
Consumer Staples | 2.82 % | 3.88 % | 4.44 % | 4.11 % | 4.16 % | 4.02 % | 5.00 % |
Energy | 5.40 % | 5.63 % | 7.07 % | 6.51 % | 7.19 % | 5.34 % | 4.16 % |
Financials | 22.05 % | 20.25 % | 19.20 % | 19.78 % | 16.76 % | 16.70 % | 18.65 % |
Healthcare | 6.76 % | 8.90 % | 7.98 % | 8.55 % | 8.26 % | 9.08 % | 10.78 % |
Industrials | 9.09 % | 9.88 % | 7.13 % | 8.71 % | 8.56 % | 7.54 % | 9.01 % |
Information Technology | 28.62 % | 27.32 % | 28.97 % | 27.56 % | 26.27 % | 27.80 % | 28.25 % |
Materials | 1.97 % | 1.83 % | 2.20 % | 1.92 % | 2.13 % | 2.21 % | 2.08 % |
Real Estate | 0.34 % | 0.32 % | 0.31 % | 0.26 % | 0.28 % | 0.26 % | 0.31 % |
Communication Services | 16.50 % | 15.51 % | 14.61 % | 14.74 % | 16.68 % | 14.64 % | 9.50 % |
Utilities | 0.40 % | 0.27 % | 0.40 % | 0.35 % | 0.40 % | 0.34 % | 0.31 % |
TOTAL | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 100.00 % | 96.61 % | 98.62 % |
S&P Dow Jones Indices | ||||||||||
S&P 500 20 LARGEST Q2 2025 BUYBACKS, $ MILLIONS | ||||||||||
Company | Ticker | Sector | Q2 2025 | Q1 2024 | Q2 2024 | 12-Months | 12-Months | 5-Year | 10-Year | Indicated |
Buybacks | Buybacks | Buybacks | Jun,'25 | Jun,'24 | Buybacks | Buybacks | Dividend | |||
$ Million | $ Million | $ Million | $ Million | $ Million | $ Million | $ Million | $ Million | |||
Apple | AAPL | Information Technology | ||||||||
Meta Platforms | META | Communication Services | ||||||||
Alphabet | GOOGL | Communication Services | ||||||||
NVIDIA | NVDA | Information Technology | ||||||||
JPMorgan | JPM | Financials | ||||||||
Bank of America | BAC | Financials | ||||||||
Exxon Mobil | XOM | Energy | ||||||||
Visa | V | Financials | ||||||||
Microsoft | MSFT | Information Technology | ||||||||
Adobe | ADBE | Information Technology | ||||||||
Goldman Sachs | GS | Financials | ||||||||
QUALCOMM | QCOM | Information Technology | ||||||||
Wells Fargo | WFC | Financials | ||||||||
Chevron | CVX | Energy | ||||||||
T-Mobile US | TMUS | Communication Services | ||||||||
UnitedHealth Group | UNH | Health Care | ||||||||
HCA Healthcare | HCA | Health Care | ||||||||
Mastercard | MA | Financials | ||||||||
Fiserv | FI | Financials | ||||||||
Salesforce | CRM | Information Technology | ||||||||
Top 20 | ||||||||||
S&P 500 | ||||||||||
Top 20 % of S&P 500 | 51.33 % | 46.24 % | 48.65 % | 48.03 % | 44.67 % | 41.58 % | 35.66 % | 20.74 % | ||
Gross values are not adjusted for float | ||||||||||
S&P Dow Jones Indices | ||||
S&P 500 Q2 2025 Buyback Report | ||||
SECTOR | DIVIDEND | BUYBACK | COMBINED | |
YIELD | YIELD | YIELD | ||
Consumer Discretionary | 0.64 % | 1.29 % | 1.92 % | |
Consumer Staples | 2.51 % | 1.44 % | 3.96 % | |
Energy | 3.52 % | 4.07 % | 7.59 % | |
Financials | 1.43 % | 2.64 % | 4.08 % | |
HealthCare | 1.87 % | 1.71 % | 3.58 % | |
Industrials | 1.29 % | 1.90 % | 3.19 % | |
Information Technology | 0.55 % | 1.49 % | 2.04 % | |
Materials | 1.82 % | 1.85 % | 3.67 % | |
Real Estate | 3.40 % | 0.24 % | 3.64 % | |
Communications Services | 0.85 % | 3.19 % | 4.04 % | |
Utilities | 2.92 % | 0.28 % | 3.20 % | |
S&P 500 | 1.22 % | 1.86 % | 3.08 % | |
Uses full values (unadjusted for float) | ||||
Dividends based on indicated; buybacks based on the last 12-months ending Q2,'25 | ||||
Share Count Changes | ||
(Y/Y diluted shares used for EPS) | >= | <=- |
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 % |
Q2 2022 | 8.42 % | 19.84 % |
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S&P Dow Jones Indices Media Contact:
Alyssa Augustyn
(+1) 773 919 4732
alyssa.augustyn@spglobal.com
S&P Dow Jones Indices:
Howard Silverblatt
Senior Index Analyst
(+1) 973 769 2306
howard.silverblatt@spglobal.com
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