Profitable companies reducing their share count
The diluted weighted-average share count fell between the two most recent annual periods while the company reported a profit. A falling count usually means buybacks outweighed issuance, though a reverse split would also produce one.
| Company | Revenue | Net income | Gross margin | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMTWalmart Inc. | $713.16B | $21.89B | 24.9% | $14.92B |
| UNH InsurerUNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC | $447.57B | $12.06B | 88.7% | $16.08B |
| AAPLApple Inc. | $416.16B | $112.01B | 46.9% | $98.77B |
| MCKMCKESSON CORP | $403.43B | $4.76B | 3.6% | $5.72B |
| GOOGLAlphabet Inc. | $402.84B | $132.17B | 59.7% | $73.27B |
| MSFTMICROSOFT CORP | $331.84B | $133.75B | 67.9% | $66.99B |
| CORCencora, Inc. | $321.33B | $1.55B | 3.6% | $3.21B |
| COSTCOSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW | $303.15B | $9.23B | 12.8% | $9.38B |
| CI InsurerCigna Group | $274.90B | $5.96B | 21.8% | Unavailable |
| CAHCARDINAL HEALTH INC | $254.25B | $1.71B | 3.8% | $4.52B |
| NVDANVIDIA CORP | $215.94B | $120.07B | 71.1% | Unavailable |
| METAMeta Platforms, Inc. | $200.97B | $60.46B | 82.0% | $46.11B |
| ELV InsurerElevance Health, Inc. | $199.12B | $5.66B | 89.4% | $3.17B |
| GMGeneral Motors Co | $185.02B | $2.70B | Unavailable | $17.56B |
| JPM BankJPMORGAN CHASE & CO | $182.45B | $57.05B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| KRKROGER CO | $147.64B | $1.02B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| MPCMarathon Petroleum Corp | $132.70B | $4.05B | 10.0% | $4.77B |
| PSXPhillips 66 | $132.38B | $4.40B | 12.3% | Unavailable |
| HUM InsurerHUMANA INC | $129.66B | $1.19B | Unavailable | $375.00M |
| TAT&T INC. | $125.65B | $21.95B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| CMCSACOMCAST CORP | $123.71B | $20.00B | Unavailable | $21.89B |
| VLOVALERO ENERGY CORP/TX | $122.69B | $2.35B | 4.4% | Unavailable |
| DELLDell Technologies Inc. | $113.54B | $5.94B | 20.0% | $8.55B |
| BAC BankBANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ | $113.10B | $30.51B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| TGTTARGET CORP | $104.78B | $3.70B | 27.9% | $2.84B |
| FDXFEDEX CORP | $94.72B | $4.43B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| DISWalt Disney Co | $94.42B | $12.40B | Unavailable | $10.08B |
| PEPPEPSICO INC | $93.92B | $8.24B | 54.1% | Unavailable |
| UPSUNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC | $88.66B | $5.57B | Unavailable | $4.76B |
| TMUST-Mobile US, Inc. | $88.31B | $10.99B | Unavailable | $18.00B |
| PGPROCTER & GAMBLE Co | $87.03B | $16.05B | 50.2% | $15.15B |
| LOWLOWES COMPANIES INC | $86.29B | $6.65B | 33.5% | $7.65B |
| C BankCITIGROUP INC | $85.22B | $14.31B | Unavailable | -$74.15B |
| SYYSYSCO CORP | $84.55B | $1.76B | 18.5% | Unavailable |
| WFC BankWELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MN | $83.70B | $21.34B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| ACIAlbertsons Companies, Inc. | $83.17B | $217.40M | 27.2% | Unavailable |
| ADMArcher-Daniels-Midland Co | $80.27B | $1.08B | 6.3% | $4.20B |
| MET InsurerMETLIFE INC | $77.08B | $3.38B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| HCAHCA Healthcare, Inc. | $75.60B | $6.78B | Unavailable | $7.69B |
| LMTLOCKHEED MARTIN CORP | $75.05B | $5.02B | 10.2% | Unavailable |
| ACNAccenture plc | $74.18B | $8.37B | 32.0% | $11.62B |
| AXP BankAMERICAN EXPRESS CO | $72.23B | $10.83B | Unavailable | $16.00B |
| MS Broker-dealerMORGAN STANLEY | $70.64B | $16.86B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| ALL InsurerALLSTATE CORP | $67.68B | $10.28B | Unavailable | $9.88B |
| LLYELI LILLY & Co | $65.18B | $20.64B | 83.0% | Unavailable |
| MRKMerck & Co., Inc. | $65.01B | $18.25B | 74.8% | $12.36B |
| CSCOCISCO SYSTEMS, INC. | $63.32B | $13.27B | 64.5% | $12.77B |
| SNXTD SYNNEX CORP | $62.51B | $827.66M | 7.0% | Unavailable |
| PRU InsurerPRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC | $60.77B | $3.58B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| TJXTJX COMPANIES INC /DE/ | $60.37B | $5.49B | 31.0% | $4.92B |
| CB InsurerChubb Ltd | $59.40B | $10.31B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| UALUnited Airlines Holdings, Inc. | $59.07B | $3.35B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| GS Broker-dealerGOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | $58.28B | $17.18B | Unavailable | -$47.22B |
| HPQHP INC | $55.30B | $2.53B | 20.6% | Unavailable |
| CHTRCHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC. /MO/ | $54.77B | $4.99B | Unavailable | $4.42B |
| AALAmerican Airlines Group Inc. | $54.63B | $111.00M | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| EPDENTERPRISE PRODUCTS PARTNERS L.P. | $52.60B | $5.81B | 26.7% | Unavailable |
| GDGENERAL DYNAMICS CORP | $52.55B | $4.21B | Unavailable | $3.96B |
| UBERUber Technologies, Inc | $52.02B | $10.05B | Unavailable | $9.76B |
| TRV InsurerTRAVELERS COMPANIES, INC. | $48.83B | $6.29B | Unavailable | Unavailable |
How common this has been
17.2% of companies met this in 2016 and 14.2% in 2025; the share has narrowed.
| Year | Share | Companies | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 17.2% | 417 of 2,421 | |
| 2017 | 18.1% | 547 of 3,029 | |
| 2018 | 18.1% | 585 of 3,238 | |
| 2019 | 16.9% | 599 of 3,534 | |
| 2020 | 13.7% | 529 of 3,849 | |
| 2021 | 15.9% | 646 of 4,065 | |
| 2022 | 16.0% | 693 of 4,332 | |
| 2023 | 15.7% | 720 of 4,573 | |
| 2024 | 15.4% | 735 of 4,764 | |
| 2025 | 14.2% | 695 of 4,909 |
Each year is the screen re-run against the figures each company had reported by that December, so it is what the answer would have been at the time rather than today’s companies with old numbers. The denominator is companies with usable figures that year, which grows as coverage does.
Fiscal year ends differ between companies; each row shows that company’s own latest annual period. Figures are the filers’ own, normalized from their SEC filings.
This screen runs as share_count_growth < 0 AND net_income IS POSITIVE AND revenue > 1b. Open it in the screener to change the conditions, or read the methodology for how each figure is chosen.