Data Update 8 For 2026: Time For Harvesting - Dividends And Buybacks

Aswath Damodaran15.02K FollowersFollow5ShareSavePlay(25min)CommentsSummaryIn this post, I will look at the decision by businesses on how much cash to return to their owners and in what form (dividends or buybacks) and how that decision played out globally in 2025.I will argue that dividend policy, more than any other aspect of corporate finance, is dysfunctional both for the firms that choose to return the cash and the investors who receive that cash.A stock is not a bond, where dividends replace coupons, and you get some price appreciation on top, and treating it as such will only create disappointment.

Getty Images In the data update posts this year, I have wended my way from the macro (equities collectives, the bond market and other asset classes) to the micro, starting with hurdle rates and returns in posts five and This article was written byAswath Damodaran15.02K FollowersFollowI teach corporate finance and valuation at the Stern School of Business at New York University. I am a teacher first, who also happens to love untangling the puzzles of corporate finance and valuation, and writing about my experiences. As a result, I happen to be at the intersection of three businesses, education, publishing and financial services, that are all big, inefficiently run and deserve to be disrupted. I may not have the power to change the status quo in any of these businesses, but I can stir the pot. Please note that the article that you are reading here was originally written on my blog and is republished in Seeking Alpha and other forums. Consequently, I neither track nor respond to comments here. I am sorry! ==Editors' Note: Seeking Alpha monitors Dr. Damodaran blog and posts relevant articles on his behalf.