Nvidia announces historic $150 billion buyback, highlighting Big Tech divide

Nvidia just authorized the largest single share buyback in corporate history, and it wasn’t even close. The $150 billion increase to its repurchase program brings the company’s total remaining authorization to $235 billion, a figure that makes Apple’s previous record of $110 billion, set in 2024, look almost quaint.

The announcement sent Nvidia shares up roughly 2.8% on the day, extending a year-to-date gain of about 24%. With a market capitalization hovering around $5.4 to $5.5 trillion, Nvidia is essentially telling Wall Street it has so much cash pouring in from AI chip demand that it can simultaneously fund massive R&D and hand enormous sums back to shareholders.

The numbers behind the flex

To appreciate the scale here, consider that Nvidia executed $39.8 billion in share buybacks during just the first half of fiscal 2027. The company ended its July quarter sitting on $22.44 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

CEO Jensen Huang described the business environment as a “once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI.” The company’s forward price-to-earnings ratio has actually compressed relative to its earnings growth, meaning the stock has gotten cheaper on a fundamentals basis even as its price has climbed.

This latest authorization didn’t come out of nowhere. It follows an $80 billion increase in May 2026 and a $60 billion bump in August 2025. Each escalation has tracked almost perfectly with the ramp in hyperscaler AI infrastructure spending, which analysts project will exceed $1.3 trillion by 2027.

Huang indicated the funding for this buyback program will be sourced through fiscal 2028, backed by the company’s robust cash generation.

What this signals about AI spending durability

Nvidia committing to a buyback of this magnitude is also a signal about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending. If management believed the current demand cycle was peaking or about to slow, authorizing $150 billion in repurchases funded through fiscal 2028 would be reckless.

There are risks, of course. Custom AI chips from companies like Google (TPUs), Amazon (Trainium), and Microsoft (Maia) represent growing competitive threats. And if the broader AI investment thesis stumbles, even Nvidia’s cash machine would feel the effects.