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Key Points

• Walmart, Lyft, and Equitable each announced sizable repurchase authorizations, signaling continued focus on per-share value creation.
• Lyft’s buyback capacity is the most aggressive relative to market cap, while Walmart’s is the largest in absolute dollars.
• Equitable pairs buybacks with a dividend and a rebound narrative, with analysts still forecasting meaningful upside.
• Special Report: A federal rule is about to squeeze Big Tech (From Behind the Markets)

 

Several major companies just expanded their share repurchase authorizations, giving them fresh capacity to retire stock in 2026. In a market where buybacks matter more than ever for per-share results, that kind of firepower can provide a meaningful tailwind—especially when growth is uneven, and investors are scrutinizing capital allocation.

The headlines span three very different corners of the market: a consumer staples heavyweight, a beaten-down ride-hailing name, and a financial services firm overseeing more than $1 trillion in assets. The scale also varies widely, from sizable to outsized, with one new authorization totaling nearly 18% of the company’s market value.

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Walmart Announces Biggest Buyback Ever as Shares Climb

First up is retail behemoth Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT). Walmart delivered an impressive performance in 2025, with a total return of approximately 24%. Even as shares sold off following Walmart’s latest earnings release, the stock remains up around 10% in 2026. Much of this has come from investors rotating into consumer staples stocks early in the year.

Despite the stock coming down recently, Walmart continues to demonstrate robust financial performance. This is particularly true as it relates to the firm’s e-commerce push. E-commerce sales rose by 24% year-over-year (YOY) last quarter, and grew to a record high 23% of revenue. Advertising revenue also rose by 37% and membership income rose 15%. These are important drivers of margin improvement for the company.

To end its strong year, Walmart announced the authorization of a $30 billion share buyback program, its largest authorization to date. The new program is equal to approximately 3.1% of Walmart’s huge $980 billion market capitalization. This gives the company substantial ability to continue lowering its outstanding share count, and provides a tailwind to earnings per share growth. Notably, the firm’s shares outstanding fell by around 0.8% in 2025.

Walmart also announced a 5% increase to its quarterly dividend, highlighting its two-pronged strategy of returning capital to shareholders. The stock’s indicated dividend yield now sits near 0.8%.

LYFT Holds +15% Buyback Capacity as Shares Get Hit in 2026

Ride-hailing company LYFT (NASDAQ: LYFT) managed to put up a very strong 50% return in 2025. However, the stock is tanking in the new year, down more than 25%. This was largely due to LYFT’s latest earnings report, which caused shares to drop over 20% in two days. This came as the firm’s $1.59 billion in revenue, a 3% YOY increase, missed expectations of $1.76 billion.

However, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 37% to $154 million, and solidly surpassed estimates. Still, the firm’s Q1 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of between $120 million and $140 million was weak.

LYFT also announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan. With a market capitalization of only around $5.6 billion, this program is equal to a whopping 17.8% of the company’s value. LYFT massively accelerated its use of share buybacks in 2025, spending around $500 million on repurchases.

This was ten times what it spent in 2024, and allowed LYFT’s outstanding share count to fall for the first time ever over a full year. The company’s outstanding share count dropped by around 3.7% in 2025, supporting per-share metrics. The size of the company’s new buyback authorization suggests that this trend can continue.

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EQH Expects to Rebound in 2026, Announces $1B Buyback

Last up is financial services company Equitable (NYSE: EQH). Equitable shares delivered a total return of just 3% in 2025, and are down over 5% in 2026. The company provides a variety of financial products and services including insurance, annuities and retirement planning. Notably, Equitable has $1.1 trillion in assets under management and administration, a figure that rose by 10% in 2025.

The stock has faltered over the past year or so, with Equitable missing estimates on adjusted EPS for five quarters in a row. It also missed sales expectations on three of those occasions. However, after adjusted EPS rose just 1% in 2025, Equitable expects to perform much better in 2026. It sees EPS growth coming in ahead of its long-term target between 12% and 15%.

Affirming this confident outlook is the company’s $1 billion share buyback program. This is equal to a very significant 8% of the firm’s $12.5 billion market capitalization.

In 2025, Equitable seemingly took advantage of the weakness in its share price, spending approximately $1.45 billion on buybacks. This allowed the firm to lower its outstanding share count by 9% on the year. Its latest authorization supports the firm’s ability to keep returning large amounts of capital. The stock also has a solid indicated dividend yield near 2.4%.

Analysts Express Confidence in EQH Going Forward

Overall, WMT, LYFT, and EQH all look poised to continue lowering their share counts in 2026. Meshing with the company’s rebound narrative, Equitable shows the most upside potential among these stocks, according to Wall Street analysts. The MarketBeat consensus price target of just over $62 implies that shares could rise by 41%. The consensus price target on LYFT indicates a similar amount of upside, but targets fell substantially after the firm’s latest report.

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