---
title: "Nvidia's $150 billion buyback: what the 24 record buybacks before it did next"
url: https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/nvidia-150-billion-buyback-record-buybacks
author: "Julien Esnault"
publisher: "Portfolio Terminal"
published: 2026-09-29
type: market note
tags: ["Research", "Stocks", "Market News"]
summary: "Nvidia's $150 billion buyback, announced September 28, 2026, is the largest ever in dollars but only 2.8% of its value. Of the 21 earlier US buybacks of $50 billion or more with a year behind them, 12 beat the S&P 500 over the next 12 months, by a median 2.6 points."
---

> **Source:** Julien Esnault, "Nvidia's $150 billion buyback: what the 24 record buybacks before it did next", Portfolio Terminal, 2026-09-29. https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/nvidia-150-billion-buyback-record-buybacks
> When you use a figure from this article, cite it with the line above and link to the URL. Figures are checked against the primary data named in the Sources line at the end.

## In short

- Nvidia announced a $150 billion addition to its share buyback on September 28, 2026, the largest buyback authorization in dollars on record, leaving $235 billion to spend through fiscal 2028.
- Against Nvidia's $5.42 trillion market value at the September 25, 2026 close, the $150 billion buyback is 2.8% of the company, 19th of the 25 US buybacks of $50 billion or more since 2018; Chevron's $75 billion in January 2023 was 21.7%.
- Of the 21 US buyback authorizations of $50 billion or more from 2018 to 2025 with a full year of data, 12 beat the S&P 500 (SPY, dividends included) over the next 12 months, by a median 2.6 percentage points.
- Nvidia spent $74.4 billion buying back 592 million shares in fiscal 2025 and 2026, yet its share count fell only 339 million, or 1.4%, from January 2024 to January 2026.
- On September 28, 2026, the day of the announcement, Nvidia stock rose 1.7% to $228.86 while SPY fell 0.7%.

# Nvidia's $150 billion buyback: what the 24 record buybacks before it did next

**The short version:** Nvidia said on September 28, 2026 that it would add $150 billion to its share buyback, the largest buyback authorization in dollars on record. We checked every US buyback authorization of $50 billion or more since 2018, 25 of them, against the S&P 500. Of the 21 with a full year behind them, 12 beat the index over the next 12 months, by a median 2.6 percentage points. Nvidia's is the biggest in dollars and only 19th of the 25 as a share of the company.

The Nvidia buyback news landed before Monday's open: the board "authorized an additional $150 billion" under its existing program, which leaves $235 billion to spend through fiscal 2028. That is not $235 billion of new money, as some headlines put it: $150 billion is new, the rest was already approved. Nvidia closed at $228.86 that day, up 1.7% from $225.07, while SPY, the S&P 500 fund, fell 0.7%.

A buyback is a company spending its cash on its own shares. The usual reading is that it lifts the stock: fewer shares, a bigger slice of the profit for each one, and a management that thinks the price is too low. So we asked the only question a shareholder can check: after the biggest buybacks ever announced, did the stock beat simply owning the index?

| After the news | Beat the S&P 500 | Median lead over SPY | Stock up |
|---|---|---|---|
| First session | 17 of 25 | +0.8 pts | 15 of 25 |
| 1 month (21 sessions) | 12 of 24 | 0.0 pts | 13 of 24 |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | 14 of 24 | +1.4 pts | 17 of 24 |
| 12 months (252 sessions) | 12 of 21 | +2.6 pts | 17 of 21 |

"Beat" is the stock's total return minus SPY's over the same sessions, dividends included on both sides, starting from the last close before the news. Nineteen of the 25 were announced with quarterly results, so the first-day move is mostly the earnings; the longer windows are what the buyback can claim. A year out, the median stock beat the index by 2.6 points, and 9 of 21 trailed it: close to a coin flip, with a slight lean up.

![Horizontal bar chart of the 21 US buyback authorizations of $50 billion or more since 2018 with a full year of data: 12 beat the S&P 500 over the next 12 months, from Alphabet April 2025 at +88.4 points to Meta October 2021 at −43.9 points](https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog-sources/nvidia-150-billion-buyback-record-buybacks-year-after.png "Twelve months after each announcement, stock total return minus SPY's. Source: company releases and SEC filings, Yahoo Finance adjusted closes")

## Every buyback of $50 billion or more since 2018

Each row is one board authorization of $50 billion or more of new money, dated by the release. "% of company" is the new money over the company's market value at the last close before the news. The two right-hand columns are the stock's lead over SPY, in percentage points; "—" means the year has not passed yet.

| Announced | Company | New money | % of company | Day 1 vs SPY | 1 year vs SPY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2018 | Apple | $100B | 11.7% | +5.1 pts | +13.5 pts |
| Apr 30, 2019 | Apple | $75B | 7.9% | +5.7 pts | +43.5 pts |
| Apr 30, 2020 | Apple | $50B | 3.9% | +1.0 pts | +34.4 pts |
| Apr 27, 2021 | Alphabet | $50B | 3.2% | +3.0 pts | +2.6 pts |
| Apr 28, 2021 | Apple | $90B | 4.0% | −0.7 pts | +16.6 pts |
| Sep 14, 2021 | Microsoft | $60B | 2.7% | +0.8 pts | −5.3 pts |
| Oct 25, 2021 | Meta (Facebook) | $50B | 5.4% | −4.0 pts | −43.9 pts |
| Apr 26, 2022 | Alphabet | $70B | 4.5% | −4.0 pts | −10.1 pts |
| Apr 28, 2022 | Apple | $90B | 3.4% | 0.0 pts | +5.5 pts |
| Jan 25, 2023 | Chevron | $75B | 21.7% | +3.8 pts | −37.0 pts |
| Apr 25, 2023 | Alphabet | $70B | 5.3% | +0.3 pts | +24.4 pts |
| May 4, 2023 | Apple | $90B | 3.4% | +2.8 pts | −19.2 pts |
| Feb 1, 2024 | Meta | $50B | 4.9% | +19.3 pts | +54.5 pts |
| Apr 25, 2024 | Alphabet | $70B | 3.6% | +9.3 pts | −8.3 pts |
| May 2, 2024 | Apple | $110B | 4.1% | +4.7 pts | +3.2 pts |
| Aug 28, 2024 | Nvidia | $50B | 1.6% | −6.4 pts | +19.9 pts |
| Sep 16, 2024 | Microsoft | $60B | 1.9% | +0.8 pts | −0.4 pts |
| Apr 24, 2025 | Alphabet | $70B | 3.6% | +1.0 pts | +88.4 pts |
| May 1, 2025 | Apple | $100B | 3.1% | −5.2 pts | +0.3 pts |
| Jul 1, 2025 | JPMorgan Chase | $50B | 6.2% | +0.1 pts | −4.5 pts |
| Aug 27, 2025 | Nvidia | $60B | 1.4% | −1.1 pts | −0.3 pts |
| Apr 30, 2026 | Apple | $100B | 2.5% | +3.0 pts | — |
| May 20, 2026 | Nvidia | $80B | 1.5% | −2.0 pts | — |
| Jun 24, 2026 | JPMorgan Chase | $50B | 5.6% | +0.4 pts | — |
| Sep 28, 2026 | Nvidia | $150B | 2.8% | +2.4 pts | — |

The spread is the story. The same kind of announcement came before an 88.4-point lead (Alphabet, April 2025) and a 43.9-point lag (Meta, then still Facebook, October 2021). Apple accounts for 9 of the 25 and for most of the steady middle of the table: its buybacks come every spring with its results, and the stock beat the index in 7 of its 8 years with data.

## Biggest in dollars, 19th of 25 in size

Dollars flatter Nvidia's number. At the September 25 close Nvidia was worth $5.42 trillion, so $150 billion is 2.8% of the company. Chevron's $75 billion in January 2023 was 21.7% of Chevron; Apple's $100 billion in May 2018 was 11.7% of Apple, when Apple was worth $858 billion.

![Horizontal bar chart of 25 buyback authorizations of $50 billion or more since 2018, each as a share of the company's market value the day before: Chevron January 2023 at 21.7% leads, Nvidia's $150 billion of September 2026 is 2.8%, 19th of 25](https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog-sources/nvidia-150-billion-buyback-record-buybacks-size.png "New money over market value at the last close before the news. Source: company releases, SEC filings (shares outstanding), Yahoo Finance closes")

Size as a share of the company tells you more about what a buyback can do to the share count. It did not tell us much about the stock afterwards: the 18 programs of 3% of the company or more beat the index a year later 11 times out of 17 (median +3.2 points); of the 7 under 3%, only 4 have a year of data, too few to call. The six announced on their own rather than with results (Microsoft twice, Chevron, JPMorgan twice and Nvidia's latest) moved about as much on the first day as the rest, a median +0.8 points ahead, and none of the four with a year behind them beat the index.

## A buyback is not a smaller share count

Buying back shares only shrinks the count if it outruns the shares a company hands out, mostly to employees as pay. Here is each company's share count from its first program in the list to its latest filing, from the counts it reports to the SEC.

| Company | $50B+ programs | Authorized | Shares before | Shares now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | 9 (since May 2018) | $805B | 20.30B (Jan. 2018) | 14.59B (July 2026) | −28.1% |
| Alphabet | 5 (since April 2021) | $330B | 13.50B (Dec. 2020) | 12.23B (June 2026) | −9.4% |
| Microsoft | 2 (since Sept. 2021) | $120B | 7.51B (July 2021) | 7.43B (July 2026) | −1.2% |
| Meta | 2 (since Oct. 2021) | $100B | 2.83B (June 2021) | 2.54B (June 2026) | −10.3% |
| Chevron | 1 (since Jan. 2023) | $75B | 1.93B (Sept. 2022) | 1.98B (June 2026) | +2.2% |
| JPMorgan Chase | 2 (since July 2025) | $100B | 2.78B (March 2025) | 2.66B (June 2026) | −4.4% |

Chevron's count rose because it paid for Hess in shares: 301.25 million new Chevron shares when the deal closed on July 18, 2025. Nvidia's cover-page counts are rounded, so its line is below, from its balance sheets.

Nvidia is the clearest case. In fiscal 2025 and 2026 (February 2024 to January 2026) it spent $74.4 billion buying back 592 million shares, yet its count went from 24,643 million to 24,304 million: down 339 million, or 1.4%. About 253 million shares came back the other way, 43% of what it bought. The new $150 billion will buy more, but most of what Nvidia buys back will keep offsetting what it issues. Apple's 28.1% cut is what a buyback looks like when it outruns stock awards for eight years.

## What it means for your portfolio

If you own an S&P 500 fund, you own these buybacks already. In Vanguard's full holdings file for VOO dated August 31, 2026, Nvidia is 8.08% of the fund, the largest line, and the seven companies in this study together are 30.1%. A buyback at one of them moves your fund, not just their shareholders; a separate position in Nvidia on top of the fund doubles the same bet. [The ETF overlap tool](https://portfolio-terminal.com/etf-overlap) shows how much two funds hold in common, and [Portfolio X-Ray](https://portfolio-terminal.com/x-ray) adds up what you hold through all of them. We measured how much popular funds share in [which ETFs are really the same fund](https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/etf-overlap-which-etfs-are-the-same): VOO and QQQ, for one, overlap by more than half ([VOO vs QQQ](https://portfolio-terminal.com/compare/voo-vs-qqq)).

Add your funds and shares below, even roughly, to see how much of Nvidia and the six others you already hold once each fund is opened:

*(Interactive fund exposure: open https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/nvidia-150-billion-buyback-record-buybacks to run it on your own portfolio.)*

The buyback table gives no reason to buy Nvidia for its buyback, or to sell it because the buyback is small next to its value: 12 of 21 is not an edge, and the best and worst results in it are 132 points apart. The [Nvidia analysis page](https://portfolio-terminal.com/analyse/nvda) has the valuation and the price history; [Apple](https://portfolio-terminal.com/analyse/aapl) and [Alphabet](https://portfolio-terminal.com/analyse/googl) are the two companies with the longest buyback record here. Results day matters more than the authorization, and [a beat is no guarantee either](https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/why-stocks-fall-after-beating-earnings): 47.3% of US earnings beats closed lower the next session. Nvidia's share of the market is also why a single stock now moves the index: [Meta's month after Connect](https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/meta-stock-up-35-percent-connect-2026) was a smaller version of the same thing. This is not investment advice.

## How we measured

Events: every US-listed company's board authorization of $50 billion or more of new repurchase money from January 1, 2018 to September 28, 2026, found through the SEC's full-text search of 8-K filings and the companies' own releases; 25 events at 7 companies. Salesforce's February 2026 "$50 billion" is left out because it includes the amount already remaining, so the new money was smaller. The first session that could react comes from the release time: 24 were released after the close, Nvidia's September 2026 release at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.

Returns are from Yahoo Finance adjusted closes (dividends reinvested), from the last close before the news to 1, 21, 63 and 252 sessions later, against SPY measured the same way. Size is the new money over the market value at that close, with shares from the latest SEC filing before the news (the cover page count; Alphabet's balance-sheet total across share classes; Meta's quarterly basic share count, since it reports its classes separately), converted into today's share units by later splits. Nvidia's repurchases are from its 10-K and 10-Q filings and its share counts from its 10-K balance sheets, which are exact to the million where the cover pages are rounded.

What would change the result: 21 events with a year of data is a small sample, and 9 are Apple, so one company's run weighs heavily; the windows overlap each other and a strong 2019–2026 market for the largest companies sits under all of them. The comparison with SPY removes the market's move, not the fact that these were the biggest, most profitable companies of the period.

## Reproduce it

The headline count, 12 of the 21 buybacks with a full year beating SPY over the next 12 months, in about 40 lines of Python on Yahoo Finance data; we ran it on September 29, 2026, with prices through the September 28 close.

```python
# Reproduces https://portfolio-terminal.com/blog/nvidia-150-billion-buyback-record-buybacks
# pip install yfinance pandas
# Every US buyback authorization of $50B or more since 2018 (company releases and SEC filings),
# then the stock against SPY, dividends included, from the last close before the news to
# 252 sessions later. Data: Yahoo Finance adjusted closes through Sept. 28, 2026.
import pandas as pd
import yfinance as yf

# (ticker, first session that could react, new money in $ billions)
EVENTS = [
    ("AAPL", "2018-05-02", 100), ("AAPL", "2019-05-01", 75), ("AAPL", "2020-05-01", 50),
    ("GOOGL", "2021-04-28", 50), ("AAPL", "2021-04-29", 90), ("MSFT", "2021-09-15", 60),
    ("META", "2021-10-26", 50), ("GOOGL", "2022-04-27", 70), ("AAPL", "2022-04-29", 90),
    ("CVX", "2023-01-26", 75), ("GOOGL", "2023-04-26", 70), ("AAPL", "2023-05-05", 90),
    ("META", "2024-02-02", 50), ("GOOGL", "2024-04-26", 70), ("AAPL", "2024-05-03", 110),
    ("NVDA", "2024-08-29", 50), ("MSFT", "2024-09-17", 60), ("GOOGL", "2025-04-25", 70),
    ("AAPL", "2025-05-02", 100), ("JPM", "2025-07-02", 50), ("NVDA", "2025-08-28", 60),
    ("AAPL", "2026-05-01", 100), ("NVDA", "2026-05-21", 80), ("JPM", "2026-06-25", 50),
    ("NVDA", "2026-09-28", 150),
]
YEAR = 252  # sessions

tickers = sorted({t for t, _, _ in EVENTS} | {"SPY"})
px = yf.download(tickers, start="2018-01-01", end="2026-09-29", auto_adjust=True, progress=False)["Close"]
px = px.dropna(how="all")

rows = []
for ticker, first, amount in EVENTS:
    day1 = px.index.get_indexer([pd.Timestamp(first)])[0]
    base, end = day1 - 1, day1 - 1 + YEAR
    if day1 < 1 or end >= len(px):
        continue  # announced less than a year ago
    stock = px[ticker].iloc[end] / px[ticker].iloc[base] - 1
    spy = px["SPY"].iloc[end] / px["SPY"].iloc[base] - 1
    rows.append((ticker, first, amount, 100 * stock, 100 * spy, 100 * (stock - spy)))

out = pd.DataFrame(rows, columns=["ticker", "first_session", "bn", "stock_%", "spy_%", "excess_pts"])
print(out.sort_values("excess_pts", ascending=False).round(1).to_string(index=False))
beat = int((out["excess_pts"] > 0).sum())
print(f"\n{len(EVENTS)} buybacks of $50B+, {len(out)} with a full year behind them")
print(f"beat the S&P 500 (SPY) over the next 12 months: {beat} of {len(out)}")
print(f"median excess return: {out['excess_pts'].median():+.1f} points")
print(f"median stock return: {out['stock_%'].median():+.1f}%")
```

```text
ticker first_session  bn  stock_%  spy_%  excess_pts
 GOOGL    2025-04-25  70    120.7   32.3        88.4
  META    2024-02-02  50     79.1   24.6        54.5
  AAPL    2019-05-01  75     45.3    1.8        43.5
  AAPL    2020-05-01  50     80.4   46.0        34.4
 GOOGL    2023-04-26  70     50.2   25.8        24.4
  NVDA    2024-08-29  50     36.0   16.1        19.9
  AAPL    2021-04-29  90     17.9    1.3        16.6
  AAPL    2018-05-02 100     25.6   12.0        13.5
  AAPL    2022-04-29  90      4.3   -1.2         5.5
  AAPL    2024-05-03 110     15.3   12.1         3.2
 GOOGL    2021-04-28  50      3.6    1.0         2.6
  AAPL    2025-05-02 100     30.3   30.0         0.3
  NVDA    2025-08-28  60     20.0   20.3        -0.3
  MSFT    2024-09-17  60     18.8   19.1        -0.4
   JPM    2025-07-02  50     17.4   21.9        -4.5
  MSFT    2021-09-15  60    -15.2   -9.9        -5.3
 GOOGL    2024-04-26  70      3.2   11.5        -8.3
 GOOGL    2022-04-27  70     -9.3    0.8       -10.1
  AAPL    2023-05-05  90     10.2   29.4       -19.2
   CVX    2023-01-26  75    -13.4   23.6       -37.0
  META    2021-10-26  50    -58.2  -14.2       -43.9

25 buybacks of $50B+, 21 with a full year behind them
beat the S&P 500 (SPY) over the next 12 months: 12 of 21
median excess return: +2.6 points
median stock return: +17.9%
```

Sources: [Nvidia, "NVIDIA Announces a $150 Billion Share Repurchase Authorization Increase," September 28, 2026](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-a-150-billion-share-repurchase-authorization-increase) · [Nvidia, Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (repurchases and share count)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000021/nvda-20260125.htm) · [Apple, Q2 fiscal 2024 results with the $110 billion authorization (8-K)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019324000067/a8-kex991q2202403302024.htm) · [Chevron, $75 billion authorization, January 25, 2023 (8-K)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93410/000009341023000003/cvx-20230125.htm) · [Chevron, Form 10-Q for Q3 2025 (Hess acquisition and shares issued)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93410/000009341025000108/cvx-20250930.htm) · [SEC EDGAR full-text search](https://efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index?q=%22share%20repurchase%22) · [SEC XBRL company facts API](https://www.sec.gov/search-filings/edgar-application-programming-interfaces) · [Vanguard, VOO portfolio composition](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/voo#portfolio-composition) · [Yahoo Finance historical prices](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVDA/history/)

## Questions and answers

**Do stock buybacks increase the share price?**

Not reliably in the year after. Of the 21 US buyback authorizations of $50 billion or more from 2018 to 2025 with a full year of data, 12 beat the S&P 500 over the next 12 months and 9 trailed it; the median stock beat the index by 2.6 percentage points. The spread was wide: Alphabet's April 2025 program was followed by an 88.4-point lead, Meta's October 2021 program by a 43.9-point lag.

**Is Nvidia's $150 billion buyback good for shareholders?**

It returns cash, but it is smaller than the headline. The $150 billion added on September 28, 2026 is 2.8% of Nvidia's $5.42 trillion value, and recent buybacks mostly offset shares Nvidia issued: in fiscal 2025 and 2026 it bought back 592 million shares for $74.4 billion while its share count fell 339 million. Past buybacks of $50 billion or more beat the S&P 500 the following year 12 times out of 21. This is not investment advice.

**What is the largest stock buyback in history?**

In dollars, Nvidia's: on September 28, 2026 it added $150 billion to its authorization, more than Apple's $110 billion of May 2024, leaving $235 billion to spend. As a share of the company it is not: at 2.8% of Nvidia's value it ranks 19th of the 25 US authorizations of $50 billion or more since 2018. Chevron's $75 billion in January 2023 was 21.7% of Chevron, and Apple's $100 billion in May 2018 was 11.7% of Apple.

**What happens to a stock after a buyback announcement?**

On the first session, the 25 US buybacks of $50 billion or more since 2018 beat SPY 17 times, by a median 0.8 percentage points, but 19 came with quarterly results, so most of that move is the earnings. Three months later the median lead was 1.4 points, with 14 of 24 ahead; a year later it was 2.6 points, with 12 of 21 ahead.

**Does a buyback reduce the number of shares?**

Only when it outruns the shares a company issues, mostly as employee pay. Apple, with $805 billion of authorizations of $50 billion or more since 2018, cut its share count 28.1% from January 2018 to July 2026. Microsoft's count fell 1.2% from July 2021 to July 2026 despite two $60 billion programs, and Nvidia's fell 1.4% over fiscal 2025 and 2026 while it bought back 592 million shares.

**Why do companies buy back their own shares?**

To return cash without committing to a higher dividend, to offset shares handed to employees, and sometimes to say that management finds the stock cheap. An authorization is permission, not a purchase: Nvidia's September 28, 2026 release says its $235 billion can be spent through fiscal 2028, and Apple has renewed a buyback of $50 billion or more every spring since 2018.