Brazilian firms bought back R$252bn, but half of plans used 28% or less

By Brazil Stock Guide — Brazilian companies repurchased R$252.5 billion in shares between 2010 and 2025, but an XP Research study shows that half of all buyback programs executed no more than 28% of their authorized volume. The gap between announced plans and actual purchases has persisted even as share repurchases have become an increasingly important capital allocation tool in Brazil’s equity market.

“Actual share repurchases remain significantly below announced levels,” according to the study prepared by XP’s Equity Strategy and ESG team, led by Fernando Ferreira, the firm’s chief strategist and head of Research. The report was released on November 11.

The number of buyback programs also increased. In the early 2000s, Brazilian companies approved approximately 35 repurchase programs annually. Over the past five years, that figure ranged from 83 to 131, while the proportion of listed companies announcing buybacks rose from approximately 3%–5% to between 15% and 23%.

However, the increase in announcements was not matched by a proportional rise in execution. According to XP, companies repurchased no more than 25% of the authorized shares in 46% of programs. The median execution rate was 28%, meaning that half of all programs resulted in purchases representing approximately that percentage or less of the approved volume.

The differences between announced and actual repurchase amounts partly reflect the nature of these programs. A buyback authorization establishes an upper limit on the number of shares a company may acquire but does not require management to use the full authorization. Actual purchases depend on market conditions, available capital and each company’s financial priorities.

Authorizations rise, but actual buybacks decline in 2026

The gap between announcements and execution has continued into 2026. Between January and October, Brazilian companies approved 80 share repurchase programs with an estimated value of R$44 billion, exceeding the R$37 billion announced during the same period in 2025.

However, actual purchases between January and September totaled R$15.8 billion, down 5% from the first nine months of 2025. The authorized and executed amounts cover different periods and groups of programs, but the figures indicate that the increase in new authorizations has not been accompanied by an equivalent expansion in actual repurchases.

The slowdown became particularly evident in September, when companies bought back just R$700 million in shares, the lowest monthly volume since January 2024.

Within the Ibovespa, the effective return from share repurchases relative to companies’ market capitalization, known as the buyback yield, stood at an annualized 0.4% through September, below the 0.9% average recorded over the previous five years. Excluding Vale, the recent historical average falls to 0.5%, highlighting the mining company’s influence on aggregate figures.

R$62 billion remains available under active programs

XP identified R$62 billion in remaining buyback capacity under active programs announced by Brazilian companies. Of that total, R$57 billion relates to Ibovespa constituents, equivalent to approximately 1.3% of the index’s total market capitalization.

The electric power sector accounts for the largest remaining authorization volume, at approximately R$20 billion, followed by banks with R$9 billion and mining and metals companies with around R$7.5 billion.

Among the largest individual programs are those of Axia, with approximately R$12.9 billion still available, and Copel, with R$4.1 billion. Both had execution rates rounded to zero as of the study’s reference date. XP also identified substantial remaining authorizations at PRIO, with R$3.3 billion, and Localiza, with approximately R$2.1 billion.

The R$62 billion represents authorized repurchase capacity rather than funds that companies will necessarily spend. The figure also does not represent the historical amount of unused buyback authorizations, as the study does not provide a consolidated total for unused capacity under programs that have already expired or been completed.

Renewals dominate buyback activity

XP also identified a shift in the profile of share repurchases. In 2026, 62% of announcements involved renewals of previous programs, while only 5% represented a company’s first-ever buyback authorization.

The prevalence of renewals suggests that share repurchases have become a recurring component of Brazilian companies’ financial policies rather than occasional initiatives prompted by fluctuations in stock prices.

The study, however, highlights limitations in the transparency surrounding these decisions. Although the quality of corporate disclosures has improved over time, 40% of the renewals analyzed repeated the exact same justifications provided in previous programs.

Among 57 cases in which companies had not repurchased any shares under their preceding programs, 60% retained the same justification when renewing their authorization.

According to the analysts, this practice provides investors with little additional information about why purchases were not carried out and what conditions would justify a new authorization.

The research also found no consistent relationship between more detailed explanations and higher execution rates. Median utilization rates were similar among companies that provided explicit reasons for their buybacks and those that disclosed no specific justification.

Shares of companies announcing buybacks outperform Ibovespa

Despite the partial execution of many programs, XP identified a historically positive relationship between buyback announcements and subsequent stock performance.

A quantitative strategy that selects companies announcing repurchase programs equivalent to at least 5% of their publicly traded shares, with each position held for 24 months, generated an annualized return of 15.8% since October 2008, compared with 7% for the Ibovespa.

The simulation included 789 eligible announcements and outperformed the benchmark in 13 of the 19 years analyzed. However, the strategy’s advantage has narrowed in recent years. It also exhibited volatility of 26.6% and a maximum drawdown approaching 50% during its worst period.

The study further shows that program size influences investors’ initial response. On the first trading day following an announcement, companies with buyback programs equivalent to at least 5% of their free float recorded an average excess return of 1.19% relative to the Ibovespa, compared with 0.37% for smaller programs.

XP also found historically stronger results when buyback announcements involved stocks trading at lower valuation multiples, suggesting that the price companies pay for their own shares is an important factor in assessing the potential benefits of these transactions.