S&P 500 buybacks decline for second consecutive quarter
Dollar-value share repurchases declined sequentially for the second consecutive quarter in Q1 2012. This also represented a year-over-year decline of 4.0%. The last time that quarterly buybacks had consecutive, sequential declines was Q2 2009, and the last time they had a year-over-year decline was Q4 2009. The quarterly sum of $84.1 billion was also the lowest since Q3 2010.
In Q1 2012, the Consumer Discretionary surpassed the Information Technology sector as the sector with the highest dollar amount spent on buybacks in a quarter. This marked the first time in twelve quarters (since Q1 2009) that the Information Technology sector didn’t lead the index in this metric. Growth of 5.3% in quarterly buybacks in the Consumer Discretionary sector coupled with consecutive declines (-11.9% in Q4 2011 and -36.4% in Q1 2012) in quarterly buybacks in the Information Technology sector helped cause the change in sector leadership.
Read more about the buyback activity of the S&P 500 companies and sectors in this quarter's edition of FactSet Buyback Quarterly. Visit www.factset.com/buyback to launch the report now.
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