Unleashing a spree of share repurchases

Corporate America set to join Buffett in buyback binge

SAN FRANCISCO: The recent rise in interest rates may be causing nervousness among some investors, but it’s unlikely to prevent a buying binge among the biggest whales in the stock market: Corporations themselves.

US companies’ swollen cash piles and a rosy outlook for earnings are raising expectations that more executives will follow in the footsteps of Warren Buffett and unleash a spree of share repurchases, adding a layer of support to the stock market after buybacks plummeted last year. At the very least, the purchases could help offset a surge in supply of shares this year by a parade of special acquisition companies going public and a record number of secondary offerings.