This Week's Top Share Buyback Changes (SCHW, DRH, LCAPA, QCOM, TBL, TEL)

There was an absence of major buyback announcements this week.  That coincides with the lack of as many earnings reports as well.  Below are some of the standout buyback and repurchase announcements from this week:

Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) boosted its buyback plan Thursday by approving an additional $500 million in buybacks, making the total buyback amount $619 million. Charles Schwab’s market cap is $23.6 billion.

DiamondRock Hospitality Co. (NYSE: DRH), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced on Monday that up to 4.8 million shares were approved for repurchase. $1.24 billion is their current market cap.  It isn’t unique, but REIT’s rarely repurchase shares compared to other sectors because they have to distribute most of their income.

Liberty Media Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA) has approved $1 Billion in repurchases of Liberty Entertainment common stock and $300 million of Liberty Capital common stock on Monday. Their market cap is $1.95 Billion.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) approved a $2 Billion buyback plan Tuesday. The program will replace a $3 Billion buyback that currently had $2 million remaining. The current market cap for QUALCOMM is $64.9 Billion.

Timberland Co. (NYSE: TBL) authorized on Monday another 6 million shares for repurchasing. The apparel and footwear company currently has 1 million shares left from its previous 6 million share repurchase program. They have a market cap of $816 million so this would retire close to another 10% of its stock.

Tyco Electronics, Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) also upped its buyback plan on Thursday by $500 million, reaching $1.25 billion in authorized repurchases. Since September, Tyco Electronics has repurchased $512 of its common stock. Market cap sitting at $15.7 billion.

Rachel Lopez
March 14, 2008