Buybacks Galore: Repurchases From the Oval Office to Olive Garden
Several notable stocks, associated with everything from President Trump to pasta dinners, are significantly boosting their buybacks. Together, these newly announced programs add over $10 billion in fresh repurchase capacity to the stock market. While the reasons vary, the message is clear: these companies are looking to reward shareholders and potentially reduce their outstanding shares.
Below, we break down which companies now have the financial firepower to make a major dent in their share count. All data used is as of the June 27 close unless otherwise indicated.
DJT Announces $400 Million Buyback After Huge Slide and Bitcoin Deal
First up is the baby of the Commander in Chief, Trump Media and Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT). On June 23, the company announced a share buyback program worth $400 million. This is substantial, accounting for around 8.3% of its $4.8 billion market capitalization. The timing of this announcement isn’t overly surprising, given the recent performance of the stock. Shares of TMTG have gotten crushed in 2025, down approximately 49% this year. There is a chance that the company sees its shares as undervalued, which gives it a reason to repurchase stock.
This comes as the firm raised $2.5 billion, which it will use to fund the creation of a large Bitcoin (BTC) treasury. This will put the company’s liquid assets above $3 billion, as it had $759 million in cash and equivalents previously. However, this figure could change substantially in the future, based on the price of Bitcoin. Despite this influx of cash, TMTG remains a deeply money-losing operation. The company has generated under $4 million in revenues over the last 12 months, but had operating expenses north of $127 million.
JCI: $5 Billion in Buyback Spending Ahead?
Next up is Johnson Controls International (NYSE: JCI). The industrial company provides a variety of building products to customers around the world. This mainly includes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, as well as fire protection and security solutions. On June 13, the company announced an increase to its share buyback authorization of $9 billion. This adds to the company’s remaining authorization, giving it $10.1 billion in share repurchase capacity. This number equates to a very large 14.6% of its approximately $69 billion market capitalization.
This announcement comes even as the stock ended June 27 at its all-time high closing price. This suggests that the company continues to be confident in its prospects going forward and doesn’t view its shares as overvalued. JCI recently spoke at the Bank of America’s 2025 Industrials, Transportation & Airlines Conference. They said they plan to return $5 billion worth of capital in the “fourth quarter”. This most likely refers to the firm’s fiscal Q4 2025, which ends on Sept. 30. This suggests the firm is looking to buy back $5 billion worth of shares by that date. Based on JCI’s current price, this could reduce its share count by around 7% over that period, providing a huge earnings per share tailwind.
DRI: Buybacks and Dividends Get a Boost as the Stock Outperforms in 2025
Last up is Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI). The company operates large chains like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. In an industry that has performed rather well as a whole in 2025, Darden has more than held its own. Shares have provided a total return of approximately 17%, substantially beating out the less than 6% return of the S&P 500. Along with releasing its latest earnings on June 20, the company announced a $1 billion share buyback program. The new buyback program is moderate in size, equating to just under 4% of the stock’s over $25 billion market capitalization.
Over the last 12 months, the company spent $418 million on buybacks. This is somewhat below its five-year average of approximately $488 million in buyback spending over the past 12 months. Overall, these numbers suggest the firm could exhaust its buyback capacity in around two years. Darden also announced a sizable increase to its quarterly dividend of 7.1%. Its next $1.50 dividend will be payable on Aug. 1 to shareholders of record on July 10. This gives the stock a solid indicated dividend yield of around 2.8%. This is one of the highest figures among U.S. restaurant stocks.
Reduced Share Counts Could Boost Long-Term Shareholder Value
These substantial buyback announcements from DJT, Johnson Controls, and Darden Restaurants highlight a broader corporate trend of returning capital to shareholders, whether to offset stock declines, reinforce confidence, or enhance earnings metrics.
While the motivations differ, the end result is the same: reduced share counts and potentially stronger shareholder returns. Investors should watch not just the size of these buybacks, but how quickly and effectively each company executes them in the coming quarters.
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