[garry]

Dividends and stock buybacks are both ways companies enrich their stock holders. But I view them as largely the same thing. When a company doesn't have new markets, then it doesn't create new products or services, so it literally doesn't know what to do with the money, so it just plows it back to shareholders, and these are just two ways that happen.

[klipt]

Buybacks are much more tax efficient though. If you would have reinvested all dividends (after paying taxes on them), with a buyback you instead do nothing and pay no tax.