When Warren Buffett speaks, Wall Street listens — and the “Oracle of Omaha” issued a full-throated defense of stock buybacks in his latest annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. That’s why we’re shining a light on the Club holdings that repurchase the most stock, including Morgan Stanley (MS), Meta Platforms (META) and Apple (AAPL). Buffett’s argument, which mirrors the Club’s thinking, is simple: “When the share count goes down, your interest in our many businesses goes up. Every small bit helps if repurchases are made at value-accretive prices,” Buffett wrote in the letter , published Feb. 25, alongside Berkshire’s fourth-quarter earnings report. In other words, buybacks allow investors to own a greater percentage of a company’s earnings without needing to spend more money on additional shares. Not all repurchases are created equal, as Buffett rightfully pointed out in his much-anticipated annual letter. They can be done at irresponsible times, such as when a company’s stock price is overvalued. But, in general, buybacks are a beneficial tool at management’s disposable. “When you are told that all repurchases are harmful to shareholders or to the country, or particularly beneficial to CEOs, you are listening to either an economic illiterate or a silver-tongued demagogue (characters that are not mutually exclusive),” wrote Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and CEO. Buffett has overseen Berkshire, a multinational holding company whose myriad subsidiaries span most corners of the U.S. economy, since 1965. He is one of the most successful investors and wealthiest in the world, with a net worth over $100 billion. For more than a year, the Club’s investment mantra has emphasized companies that return cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends. “It really helps to know that’s what Buffett is focused on, so we’re of course going to put our portfolio through the Buffett test,” Jim Cramer said on Monday’s “Homestretch ,” our daily afternoon audio…
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