IBM has run a very aggressive stock buyback scheme for the past few years. Even while their revenues have decreased for 14 straight quarters, they returned $50 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks. They paid for most of this by issuing new debt and manipulating their accounting.<p>Imagine what they could have accomplished if they invested this into R&amp;D instead.<p>They&#x27;ve given a huge amount of wealth to their shareholders at the expense of future growth. They can&#x27;t sustain this much longer.<p>Some charts illustrating this from 2014 - 
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zerohedge.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2014-04-17&#x2F;great-stock-buyback-craze-finally-ending" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zerohedge.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2014-04-17&#x2F;great-stock-buyback...</a><p>And them manipulating their finances
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zerohedge.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2015-04-20&#x2F;ibm-reports-worst-sales-2002-eps-beats-aggressive-buybacks-cut-tax-rate" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zerohedge.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2015-04-20&#x2F;ibm-reports-worst-s...</a>