Via the FT:
US companies are on track this year to return a record $1tn to shareholders, as Donald Trump’s tax cuts prompt boards to boost buybacks and dividends at a faster rate than their capital expenditure, research and development budgets or wage bills.
Goldman Sachs estimated in February that buybacks would jump by 23 per cent to $650m this year, while JPMorgan predicted on Friday that they would rocket by as much as 50 per cent to $800bn.
The 11 per cent rise in capital expenditure and 10 per cent increase in R&D Goldman expects for the year would exceed anything seen in the past three years, but is likely to be dwarfed by the growth in shareholder returns, as the bank also sees dividends expanding by 12 per cent to $515m.
…US companies have announced a record $187bn in new buyback plans so far this year, according to Birinyi. Cisco and Wells Fargo lead the list, with plans to repurchase $25bn and $20bn respectively.
Hoocoodanode?
