Facebook Expands Share Buybacks by $9 Billion -- WSJ

By Patrick Thomas

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (December 8, 2018).

Facebook Inc. said Friday it approved a plan to boost its share-buyback program by $9 billion.

The social-media giant had previously authorized repurchases of up to $15 billion of the company's class A common stock in 2017. This is the second increase to its repurchase program this year. In April, it boosted the program by $9 billion.

In the first nine months of 2018, the company used $9.39 billion to buy back 54 million shares of its class A common stock, according to its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 31. At the time, it said it had $3.54 billion remaining in the program.

In the securities filing announcing the increase, the social-media giant said the repurchase program doesn't have an expiration date.

The buyback announcement comes as Facebook's share price has declined about 37% since its peak in July amid privacy concerns, questions about the company's handling of data and an overall slide in tech stocks.

Facebook shares, which closed Friday at $137.42, rose 0.7% in post-market trading.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2018 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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