By contrast, the 64 firms that spent the most repurchasing shares (the equivalent of 100 percent of market value) saw an average 22 percent decline in the firm’s market value. These include Sears, J.C. Penney, Hewlett-Packard, Macy’s, Xerox and Viacom, for all of which the primary purpose of the buybacks was to prop up the stock price in the face of disappointing operating results.
I used to work at one of these companies and I approve of this message. That is, stock buybacks are the last vestige of an executive team that can't find any way to innovate, or are just milking a company instead of investing in R&D. To take on debt to fund buybacks is dumb on the face of it.