Buyback, or share buyback, or stock buyback, or stock repurpose

A buyback, or share buyback, also known as a stock repurchase, is when a company buys back their own shares from the marketplace (such as from corporate shareholders or on the open market, aka a share market, or stock exchange). A company may do this to increase share value by reducing the number of outstanding shares, therefore increasing earnings per share (EPS) — which can potentially boost the stock price — as a way to return cash to shareholders that's an alternative to paying dividends, signal confidence that the company believes their shares are undervalued, and to improve their financial metrics, such as return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA).