TrueCar Supercharges Buyback With $100 Million – Buyback Wednesdays

Share repurchase programs have regained momentum this year, marking a significant revival from a relatively subdued 2023. The ODP Corporation (ODP) revealed a $1 billion plan, constituting nearly half of its market capitalization at announcement. It is the largest buyback in terms of percentage and tops our list. The involvement of David Einhorn and Greenlight Capital (check out the full Greenlight portfolio here) might explain the large buyback at ODP (the old Office Depot). We would have preferred to see the company pay down debt instead of committing such a large amount of capital to a buyback at a time when markets are hitting all-time highs.

The current earnings season has been characterized by numerous high-profile buyback announcements, starting with Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) announcing a $50 billion share repurchase plan. This move was closely followed by an impressive $7 billion repurchase announcement from Uber Technologies (UBER), marking its inaugural foray into share buybacks.

Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB) also made headlines by sanctioning a $6 billion share repurchase initiative, which accounts for approximately 6% of its market capitalization at the time of the announcement. Salesforce, Inc. contributed to the trend with a substantial $10 billion buyback program.

Companies like eBay Inc. (EBAY) with an additional $2 billion allocated for share repurchases and Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) announcing a $1 billion buyback rounded out our list. Notably, February witnessed 140 companies announcing buybacks, with 38 of these companies declaring plans valued at $1 billion or more—a record-setting figure for any month in recent memory. The total authorized buyback volume for February reached $184.5 billion.

Among these large announcements, a smaller  buyback by a small-cap company stood out, drawing attention due to its promising strategic and management overhauls. TrueCar (TRUE) demonstrated noteworthy progress, attributed to significant changes within its C-suite, including the appointment of a new CEO and CFO. This strategic shift appears to be a pivotal moment for TrueCar, signaling a potential turnaround and improved performance.

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