Another $7 billion in Share Buybacks for Boeing

The Boeing Company board of directors has just approved a new repurchase plan for up to $7 billion of common stock, above and beyond the $8 billion invested in this area since resuming repurchases during 2004. This includes the $3 billion buy back that the board approved in August 2006, which is nearing completion. Boeing Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Jim McNerney said that “We are executing a balanced cash deployment strategy that’s serving Boeing and its shareholders well.” The next wave of share repurchases will be made on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. Share buybacks seem to be popular in the industry, and it can be useful for our readers to understand them better. Investopedia has a very solid, very readable explanation of share buybacks and the accompanying shareholder positives and negatives. Once you’ve read that, the McKinsey Quaerterly’s September 2005 article “The Value of Share Buybacks” is an excellent next step for the larger corporate perspective. The money paragraph? “Companies shouldn’t confuse the value created by returning cash to shareholders with the value created by actual operational improvements. After all, the market doesn’t.”