Nvidia has handed investors one of the largest vote-of-confidence signals in corporate history, adding $150 billion to its share repurchase programme and sending its stock to its highest close in more than four months.
The numbers behind the record
The chipmaker’s board approved the increase on Monday, September 28. Together with what remained of the earlier programme, the new authorisation takes Nvidia’s total buyback capacity to $235 billion. The company said it expects to complete the programme through fiscal 2028, which runs until January 2028.
Nvidia described it as the largest increase to a repurchase authorisation ever. The previous record for a single authorisation was Apple’s $110 billion, approved in 2024. The $150 billion addition alone exceeds the market value of about 84% of the companies in the S&P 500, according to LSEG data cited by the International Business Times.
Chief executive Jensen Huang said the company’s growth is being driven by a once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI and accelerated computing, and that its cash generation gives it room both to invest and to return capital to shareholders. In the quarter ended in August, Nvidia returned about $26 billion through buybacks and dividends.
Shares respond
The stock closed Thursday at $230.86, up 1.09%, its highest finish since mid-May. That helped lift the broader market on a day when chip-related stocks led gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.19%, while the Dow and the Nasdaq each added 0.04%.
With a market value of roughly $5.48 trillion on Tuesday, Nvidia remains the world’s most valuable company. Yet its shares trade on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 16.5, far below its 15-year average of around 30, which some investors read as evidence that the stock is cheap relative to its earnings. Huang himself told reporters that he believed shareholders should keep holding the stock and that it remains undervalued.
An AI supply chain in focus
The buyback landed in a week crowded with AI news. Micron reported record results, and memory and optical-communications stocks were among the strongest performers on Thursday. Coherent jumped more than 10%, and Synopsys rose more than 12% after announcing a partnership with OpenAI to develop AI models for chip design.
Demand for Nvidia’s chips continues to be driven by enormous spending by the biggest cloud and AI companies. CNBC reported that combined capital expenditure by the largest hyperscalers is projected to exceed $1.3 trillion by 2027. Customers include OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX, and even Google, which builds its own AI chips, remains a significant buyer for its cloud business.
What a buyback does, and what it does not
A share buyback reduces the number of shares in circulation, which tends to lift earnings per share and can support the stock price. For a company generating cash at Nvidia’s pace, it is also a way to return money to owners without committing to a higher dividend.
Critics offer a different view. They argue that large repurchases can signal that management sees limited places to invest, or that money might be better spent on research, capacity or acquisitions. Others note that buybacks executed at high prices can destroy value if the stock later falls. Supporters counter that Nvidia is already investing heavily, that its valuation looks modest against its growth, and that buying back shares at current levels is a reasonable use of capital.
What to watch
The pace of repurchases will be one indicator. Because the programme runs through fiscal 2028, Nvidia has flexibility to buy gradually, and investors will look at its quarterly filings to see how quickly it is deploying the cash. Another is whether the AI spending cycle holds up. Rising Treasury yields, which have reached their highest level since 2002, and oil near $100 a barrel have already pressured valuations in parts of the market.
For now, the signal from the world’s most valuable company is clear: its leadership believes demand for AI computing has a long way to run, and is willing to commit $235 billion to back that view.
