Alphabet Stock Hands $364 Bil Back – Worth a Look

Alphabet Stock Hands $364 Bil Back - Worth a Look?

In the last decade, Alphabet (GOOGL) stock has returned a massive $364 Bil back to its shareholders through cold, hard cash via dividends and buybacks. Let's look at some numbers and compare how this payout power stacks up against the market's biggest capital-return machines.

As it turns out, GOOGL stock has returned the 3rd highest amount to shareholders in history.

Why should you care? Because dividends and share repurchases represent direct, tangible returns of capital to shareholders. They also signal management's confidence in the company's financial health and ability to generate sustainable cash flows. And there are more stocks like that. Here is a list of the top 10 companies ranked by total capital returned to shareholders via dividends and stock repurchases.

Top 10 Stocks By Total Shareholder Return

For full ranking, visit Buybacks & Dividends Ranking

What do you notice here? The total capital returned to shareholders as a % of the current market cap appears inversely proportional to growth prospects for reinvestments. Stocks like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are growing much faster, in a more predictable way, compared to the others, but they have returned a much lower fraction of their market cap to shareholders.

That's the flip side to high capital returns. Sure, they are attractive, but you have to ask yourself the question: Am I sacrificing growth and sound fundamentals? With that in mind, let's look at some numbers for GOOGL. (see Buy or Sell Alphabet Stock for more details)

Alphabet Fundamentals

• Revenue Growth: 15.1% LTM and 12.5% last 3-year average.
• Cash Generation: Nearly 18.2% free cash flow margin and 32.0% operating margin LTM.
• Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for GOOGL was 8.7%.
• Valuation: Alphabet stock trades at a P/E multiple of 27.5

*LTM: Last Twelve Months

The table gives good overview of what you get from GOOGL stock, but what about the risk?

GOOGL Historical Risk

Google's not immune to pullbacks either. It slid about 65% during the Global Financial Crisis, lost 44% in the inflation shock, and dropped 31% through the Covid pandemic. Even the 2018 correction pulled it down more than 23%. Solid fundamentals matter, but these dips show how vulnerable even top stocks can be when the market turns.

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