Over $40 Billion in Share Buyback Announcements in February (KSS, DOX, DDS, TJX, WLP, WAT, LEA, PLXS, ARG, CVC, KLAC, VAR, COP, MMM, CHKP, ISRG, ALL, CMI, GME, GD, ROST, MHS, ERTS, PFE, TUP)

Many shareholders argue that share repurchase and stock buyback plans are generally a waste of shareholder capital aimed solely as a short-term share price targeting mechanism.  Many would prefer to see dividends.  Still, share buyback plans remain a top method of ‘returning capital to shareholders’ and the share buybacks in February have come at a feverish pace.

The feverish buyback pace we are showing does not even include the many buyback plans of under $200 million.  The companies leading the buyback charge with new announcements so far in February are as follows: Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS); Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX); Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS); The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX); Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP); Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT); Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA); Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS); Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG); Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC); KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC); Varian Medical System Inc. (NYSE: VAR); ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP); 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM); Check Point Software Tecnologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP); Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL); Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI); Gamestop Corporation (NYSE: GME); General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD); Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST); Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS); Pfizer, inc. (NYSE: PFE); and Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP).

The tally here in just these plans comes to about $41 billion in new buyback announcements so far just in February, and that is after a whopping $34 billion identified in January.  We did not break these out by date and these are most recent to farthest back in February.

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) increased its share repurchase authorization under its existing share repurchase program by $2.6 billion to $3.5 billion.  That added 2.6 billion compares to a market cap of $15.7 billion today.

Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) declared $1 billion over 2 years against a market cap of $5.5 billion.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) added some $250 million to its prior buyback plan and its market cap is $2.6 billion .

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) allocated some $1.2 billion this year and that compares to a market cap of $19.5 billion.

Wellpoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) expanded its prior plan by $1.6 billion and that is against a market cap of close to $25 billion.

Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT) replaced a buyback plan with a new $500 million buyback plan that compares to a market cap of $7.45 billion today.

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) declared some $400 million over the next three years for share buybacks against a market cap of over $5.6 billion today.

Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) allocated $200 million this year for buybacks against a market cap of $1.26 billion

Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG) allocated $300 million for share buybacks after the Air Products deal and this compares to a market cap of $5.25 billion.

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) added $500 million to its prior plan and that compares to $10.5 billion in market cap.

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) added 10 million shares to its prior plan and that would be more than $475 million at today’s prices against a market cap of about $8 billion.

Varian Medical System Inc. (NYSE: VAR) added 12 million shares to a prior plan.  That would come to about $800 million if all exercised today against a market cap of $8.2 billion today.

ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP) added some $10 billion to its prior $5 billion plan and the market cap here is about $114 billion now.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) replaced a prior buyback plan with some $7 billion for buybacks.  Its market cap is about $64.5 billion.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) expanded its plan by half to about $300 million and its market cap is now north of $10 billion.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) replaced a prior buyback plan with a new $400 million plan against a market cap of $12.7 billion.

Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) allocated $1 billion for more than the next year against a market cap of roughly $16.7 billion.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) added $1 billion to a prior plan against a market cap of $20.25 billion.

GameStop Corporation (NYSE: GME) allocated some $500 million through the end of next year against a market cap of $2.98 billion.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) allocated up to 10 million shares for buybacks.  This comes to more than $750 million today against a market cap of $over $28 billion.

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) allocated up to $900 million over two years against a market cap today of $8.25 billion.

Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS) added up to $3 billion to its prior plan ad its market cap is close to $26 billion.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) allocated up to $600 million through the end of next year and its market cap is just over $6.3 billion today.

Pfizer, inc. (NYSE: PFE) added up to $5 billion to its buyback plan and its market cap is some $150 billion.

Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) expanded its prior plan with up to $600 million for share buybacks against a market cap of about $3.3 billion.

After what we identified as over $34 billion just in January, we thought that the cycle might have peaked around then.  What is even more amazing is that many of these stocks are at or close to 2-year highs.

As you would expect, most buybacks are an “up to” rather than a minimum.  Not all buyback plans get utilized, but when larger companies announce buybacks they generally do commit at least a larger percentage of that “up to” figure than when smaller companies make such announcements.

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JON C. OGG