Wal-Mart announces massive share buy-back plan, up to $15 billion
Filed under: Company News, Earnings
Wal-Mart (WMT) has decided what to do with billions of the dollars that it has earned as its sales and profits have defied the economic downturn. The world's largest retailer will buy back as much as $15 billion of its stock.
Wal-Mart made the announcement at its annual meeting. Its board will use the new repurchasing facility to replace one that began in mid-2007. Over $3 billion is still left in that pool. Wal-Mart's press release for the program says: " 'We remain committed to returning value to our shareholders through share repurchase and dividends,' said
Wal-Mart joins a small list of highly successful and cash rich companies that have elected to push large portions of their earnings directly back to shareholders. McDonald's (MCD) made an announcement similar to Wal-Mart's earlier this year.
The buy-back does say something else about the retailer environment in the US and abroad. Wal-Mart is clearly not using most of its cash for the capital expenditures needed to build new stores. The company recently said it was considering expanding its business in India and Russia, but Wal-Mart's board must believe that the expansion will not be too costly, at least for a company Wal-Mart's size.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-05-2009 @ 11:52AM
bailoutsos said...
They are too smart to buy any of the American car companies.
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6-05-2009 @ 1:12PM
CAVUTO said...
one stock to stay away from is GE......commercial property is foreclosing at a record pace...GE Capital is heavily into commercial property...Immelt is trying to raise capital by cutting employee wages..He always looks to the easy way to raise capital...unti he can make money the old fashioned way by selling products and not stealing from shareholders and the employees i say stay away from GE
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6-05-2009 @ 1:52PM
nick said...
Now their is an example for the slime machine in Washington D.C. to follow. A company that knows how to run in the black and not the red. Wake up Obama and your Democrat thugs in Congress and your thugs at ACORN AND UAW. Giving out walk around money of 250 dollars is a disgrace, 10,000 or maybe even more got this money who were dead, now we are seeing where folks have been dead for years and the checks keep going to bank accounts, alot in the inner city, in Baltimore, the charm city the joke around town is the dead people keep the city from going into the ditch, and CHI town the same.
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6-05-2009 @ 1:59PM
Pete Hans said...
I worked for G.E. a few years back and studied their history while at work there. Seems they make the Power Plants and distribution systems, build appliances that use that Power generated, finance the good folks who buy their stuff because they like to "tote the notes", build aircraft jet engines and get into financial deals because they like to "wheel and deal". I kinda got sick of their mentality and feel good that they landed in da swamplands
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6-05-2009 @ 3:15PM
Thor said...
Pete Hans....Seems to me u have no good reason for leaving G.E. Maybe u had to work to hard because your lazy,, or maybe u got fired....G.E. is America..Buy American
6-05-2009 @ 3:23PM
CAVUTO said...
GE. IS NOT AMERICAN ANYMORE...THEY HAVE MORE PEOPLE EMPLOYED OUTSIDE THE U.S.A. THAN THEY DO IN IT..GE. IS OLD NEWS..
6-05-2009 @ 2:43PM
bacondutty said...
Wow, amazing. This is why companies like Wal-Mart THRIVE in todays economy. Other companies should take note!
RT
http://www.real-anonymity.pro.tc
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6-05-2009 @ 3:49PM
Thor said...
Cavuto...G.E. hires more Veterans than any other company in the country...That makes them a Great American Company to me.
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6-06-2009 @ 10:30AM
W.D. said...
Cavuto - tell me if I'm wrong. fyi - FDIC extended thru 2013 the $250,000 insurance on deposits in FDIC institutions, of course there isn't enough money to pay the claims if all or even most of the big banks failed, but it's comforting the govt is engaging in this window dressing to support the big govt banks grab for greater deposits, it's a feel good move that ultimately just lures depositors into concentrating more money in fewer banks, increasing the risk for the depositor and doubling the risk to the FDIC, - if the FDIC doesn't have the money when the time comes, then the taxpayer will eat the losses, this is consistent with the Obama administrations desire to take over everything and control all the money and bill the taxpayers someday down the road - why not progressively reduce the 250 limit to 100, then 75, then 50 which would cause depositors to spread their money around and reduce the FDIC's exposure to calamitous failure?
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6-05-2009 @ 7:08PM
steve said...
There sure are a lot of Wal-Mart haters out there, but they employ hundreds of thousands of people. . .and are relentless about cutting costs. Hate that if you will, but with more than a half-million new people out of work every month, hundreds of companies closing, and the government pouring billions of our dollars into oblivious banks, it seems Wal-Mart has the right plan for all kinds of economic weather.
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