Corporate share repurchases worldwide are on track to reach an unprecedented $1.9 trillion in 2025, according to a JPMorgan report published Thursday. The bank highlighted that buyback activity in the first eight months of this year has already matched the total $1.37 trillion executed throughout 2024.
This pace translates to a 38% year-on-year increase, far outstripping the 15% rise in equity prices, signaling a significant surge in repurchase volumes. While the dollar amount is record-breaking, JPMorgan noted that buybacks as a share of total market capitalization remain near or slightly below historical norms.
For U.S. companies specifically, buybacks currently account for 2.6% of equity market capitalization, roughly half the near-5% peak recorded in 2007. JPMorgan believes that U.S. repurchase activity has “further room to increase” toward the 3-4% range seen prior to the pandemic, potentially adding an additional $600 billion atop the current $1.5 trillion annual pace.
The strong buyback trend, combined with weak IPO issuance, has kept equity supply in negative territory for a fourth straight year—a development that continues to underpin stock markets from a supply standpoint.
JPMorgan had previously observed in a May 7 report that buybacks were especially robust in the first half of the year, particularly in April and May, as companies “backstopped the equity market following Liberation Day.”
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