Buyback vs. dividend calculator

The mechanical EPS uplift, and what it does not prove.

Interactive: buyback vs. dividendEasy

Market cap $m Shares out (m) Net earnings $m Amount returned $m Dividend tax rate %

Share price: —
Shares repurchased: —
EPS before: —
EPS after: —
Mechanical uplift: —
Same cash as a dividend: —
Reading: —

The EPS uplift is arithmetic and would happen even if the shares were wildly overvalued. That is exactly why "EPS grew 6%" is a weak defence of a repurchase — cut the market cap in half with earnings unchanged and watch the same buyback produce twice the uplift.

The idea behind it

This calculator belongs to Corporate Actions, where the mechanism it computes is explained step by step, with the formula, what each input means and where the simple model stops being right. Everything is computed in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.

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The same in full — six points, and why each one matters

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