Nike to Buy Back $8 Billion of Its Shares

By Trey Thoelcke Published Sep 20, 6:58AM EDT

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Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) became the latest company to return money to shareholders as the economy falters. It joins a raft of firms from AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Nike said it will buy back $8 billion worth of shares. The dividend and buy back activity of major companies has risen this year as more and more investors question what public firms with billions of dollars on their balance sheet should do if that cash has no immediate and apparent usefulness. Nike bragged about its record as a shareholder friendly company when it announced its:

Board of Directors has approved a new four-year, $8 billion program to repurchase shares of NIKE’s Class B Common Stock. The Company’s current $5 billion share repurchase program will be completed during the second quarter of fiscal 2013, and the new program will commence upon the completion of the current program.

“We believe repurchasing our shares is a prudent use of our cash and are pleased to extend NIKE’s track record of returning value to shareholders through sustained share repurchases,” said Mark Parker, NIKE, Inc. President and CEO. “Over the past 10 years, NIKE, Inc. has returned $10 billion to shareholders through the repurchase of more than 167 million shares. This new share repurchase program demonstrates our continued confidence in NIKE’s strategy to generate long-term profitable growth and strong cash flow, and reflects our commitment to delivering value to our shareholders.”

Douglas A. McIntyre

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.