Qualcomm announced Thursday it is accelerating its stock buyback program through agreements with two financial institutions to purchase $5 billion of the San Diego-based company’s common stock.
“We are pleased to initiate this accelerated share repurchase as we continue to execute on our enhanced capital return program,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm. “These repurchases represent a significant step towards meeting our goal of repurchasing $10 billion of common stock by March 2016, in addition to our commitment to return a minimum of 75 percent of free cash flow to stockholders through dividends and repurchases.
“The board and the management team remain committed to returning capital to stockholders and believe we can continue to do so as we invest to create longer term stockholder value.”
Stock repurchase programs are a common way for companies to increase the value of their stock. Buying stock reduces the number of outstanding shares and thus raises the price.
