JetBlue Airways Corporation Investors Should Be Thrilled About More Buybacks
Last week, United Continental (NYSE: UAL) announced a big increase to its share repurchase plans. United is set to wrap up a $2 billion buyback program by the end of this quarter, and the board has now authorized an additional $3 billion of share repurchases.
Shortly thereafter, it was JetBlue Airways' (NASDAQ: JBLU) turn to roll out a new, larger buyback program. This is a great move in light of JetBlue's rock-solid balance sheet, strong free cash flow, and cheap stock.
Share buybacks are nothing new for JetBlue Airways. However, until recently, the company was only repurchasing enough shares to offset the stock it was issuing to employees. JetBlue's diluted share count declined just 0.3% between 2014 and 2016, even though it repurchased some stock in each year.
Source: Fool.com