This week, most firms will have exited their blackout windows. As a result, the market expects that $SPY buybacks will grow by ~10% YoY in 2022 and remain the largest source of demand for US equities.

Solid earnings growth (+5%) and large cash balances among S&P 500 firms will support continued buyback growth. In addition, management has indicated a desire to return excess cash to shareholders in the form of repurchases

Buyback authorizations, a signal for subsequent executions, totaled $1.2 trillion in 2021 and have surpassed $400 billion YTD, 22% above the record pace last year.

For instance, $AAPL and $GOOGL authorized $90 billion and $70 billion in buybacks. Tech and CommServices accounted for 43% of $SPX repurchases in 2021 and will probably account for +50% in 2022.

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