Shrinking the share count while losing money
360 companies have reduced their diluted share count over three years while reporting a loss in their most recent annual filing.
A repurchase funded by profits returns surplus capital to shareholders. A repurchase made while the business is losing money is funded by something else: the balance sheet, borrowings, or the proceeds of selling assets.
Sometimes that is defensible. A company with a one-off write-down can report a loss in a year when cash generation was fine, and buying stock cheaply during it is straightforwardly good. Stock-based compensation also pushes companies here: heavy issuance to employees requires continuous buying just to hold the share count flat, and that buying does not stop because a bad year arrived.
Sometimes it is not defensible, and the tell is the combination. A falling share count, a reported loss, negative free cash flow and rising debt together describe a company shrinking its equity base at the worst possible time.
The share count is the honest denominator here. Dollars spent on buybacks can be offset by issuance and leave the count unchanged; the count itself cannot be flattered.
What this is usually called
Share repurchases, buybacks and treasury stock purchases are the same transaction under three names, and reducing the diluted share count is what analysts mean by accretion to earnings per share. The portion that merely cancels new shares issued to staff is often called anti-dilutive buying, and it is not a return of capital in any meaningful sense -- it is payroll settled in cash after the fact.
The question, as a query
Below is the query as a reader would type it. Edit the numbers to move the threshold and the answer changes with them.
DECLINED(diluted_shares,3) AND NEGATIVE(net_income)| Company | Revenue | Net income | Gross margin | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNC InsurerCENTENE CORP | $194.78B | -$6.67B | 7.3% | $4.32B |
| WKCWORLD KINECT CORP | $36.92B | -$614.40M | 2.6% | $227.30M |
| PBFPBF Energy Inc. | $29.33B | -$158.50M | -1.9% | -$783.20M |
| KHCKraft Heinz Co | $24.94B | -$5.85B | 33.3% | $3.66B |
| CLFCLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. | $18.61B | -$1.48B | -4.6% | -$1.02B |
| CRBG InsurerCorebridge Financial, Inc. | $18.48B | -$366.00M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| GISGENERAL MILLS INC | $18.42B | -$87.60M | 33.6% | $1.63B |
| OMCOMNICOM GROUP INC. | $17.27B | -$54.50M | 8.5% | $2.79B |
| ECHOEchoStar CORP | $15.00B | -$14.50B | Unavailable | -$1.07B |
| ADNTAdient plc | $14.54B | -$281.00M | 6.6% | Unavailable |
| TAPMOLSON COORS BEVERAGE CO | $13.04B | -$2.14B | 32.8% | Unavailable |
| LUMNLumen Technologies, Inc. | $12.40B | -$1.74B | 46.5% | Unavailable |
| EQH InsurerEquitable Holdings, Inc. | $11.66B | -$1.38B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| CARAVIS BUDGET GROUP, INC. | $11.65B | -$889.00M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| CZRCaesars Entertainment, Inc. | $11.49B | -$502.00M | Unavailable | $497.00M |
| CAGCONAGRA BRANDS INC. | $11.28B | -$1.92B | 23.9% | $978.70M |
| WLKWESTLAKE CORP | $11.17B | -$1.51B | 7.3% | -$530.00M |
| DKDelek US Holdings, Inc. | $10.72B | -$22.80M | 5.7% | $6.30M |
| OCOwens Corning | $10.10B | -$522.00M | 28.1% | Unavailable |
| HTZHERTZ GLOBAL HOLDINGS, INC | $8.50B | -$747.00M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| BSTTBlackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. | $7.96B | -$3.28B | 53.6% | Unavailable |
| PIIPolaris Inc. | $7.15B | -$465.50M | 19.1% | $558.10M |
| HHyatt Hotels Corp | $7.10B | -$52.00M | Unavailable | $159.00M |
| PENNPENN Entertainment, Inc. | $6.96B | -$843.10M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| DDDuPont de Nemours, Inc. | $6.85B | -$779.00M | 34.5% | Unavailable |
| NSPINSPERITY, INC. | $6.81B | -$7.00M | 13.2% | -$309.00M |
| OLNOLIN Corp | $6.78B | -$101.10M | 7.4% | $247.90M |
| RKT BankRocket Companies, Inc. | $6.70B | -$68.00M | Unavailable | -$4.02B |
| OIO-I Glass, Inc. /DE/ | $6.43B | -$129.00M | 17.3% | $168.00M |
| CCChemours Co | $5.81B | -$386.00M | 15.5% | $51.00M |
| COTYCOTY INC. | $5.81B | -$604.80M | 62.9% | Unavailable |
| HUNHuntsman CORP | $5.68B | -$284.00M | 13.2% | $116.00M |
| BCBRUNSWICK CORP | $5.36B | -$137.30M | 24.8% | $396.30M |
| ALBALBEMARLE CORP | $5.14B | -$510.63M | 13.0% | $692.47M |
| VACMARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE Corp | $5.03B | -$308.00M | Unavailable | -$29.00M |
| UAAUnder Armour, Inc. | $4.97B | -$495.64M | 45.5% | -$162.16M |
| LBTYALiberty Global Ltd. | $4.88B | -$7.14B | 65.8% | Unavailable |
| GOGrocery Outlet Holding Corp. | $4.69B | -$224.91M | 30.3% | $23.80M |
| RYZRyerson Holding Corp | $4.57B | -$56.40M | 17.1% | $35.50M |
| LILALiberty Latin America Ltd. | $4.44B | -$611.20M | 78.0% | Unavailable |
Showing the 40 largest by revenue of 360. Open the full list in the screener.
What this does not show
Diluted share count is the weighted average the company reported. A decline can also come from a reverse split or a structural change rather than from repurchases.
The measures behind this
Weighted-average diluted shares Common share repurchases Net income
Related findings
Citing this
SequelSEC, “Shrinking the share count while losing money”, 20 September 2026. https://sequelsec.com/findings/buybacks-while-losing-money
Figures are recomputed on every view from SEC filings, so a number quoted from this page should carry the date it was read.