Microsoft Corporation MSFT 0.67% shares are up 1.1 percent in early Wednesday afternoon trading after the company announced a massive new $40 billion open-ended buyback plan. The new plan will begin upon completion of the current $40 billion buyback plan by December 31.
Microsoft certainly seems to be taking an aggressive approach to buying back shares, but how does its buyback strategy compare to other major tech stocks? Here’s a look.
- Oracle Corporation ORCL 0.71%: In March, Oracle added another $10 billion in buybacks to its current program. Oracle has averaged nearly $10 billion in annual buybacks since 2012.
- Apple Inc. AAPL 1.67%: Apple first began buying back shares in 2012. However, its $35 billion 2016 plan brings its total five-year authorization up to a staggering $175 billion.
- Yahoo! Inc YHOO 3.06%: In March 2015, Yahoo approved an additional $2 billion in buybacks through March 2018. At the time, the company had about $726 million remaining on its previous program and had bought back $9.7 billion since 2012.
- Alphabet Inc GOOG 0.04% GOOGL 0.12%: Last October, Alphabet approved a $5.1 billion buyback plan, its first ever.
- International Business Machines Corp. IBM 0.72%: Since 2000, IBM has spent…
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