Nvidia Authorizes $235 Billion in Total Stock Buybacks, a Corporate Record
The scale of Nvidia's repurchase program gives Congress a concrete data point as lawmakers debate whether buyback tax policy, currently set at a 1 percent excise rate under the Inflation Reduction...
Nvidia has authorized a total remaining stock repurchase amount of $235 billion after adding $150 billion to its existing buyback program, according to a report by The New York Times published September 28, 2026. The new authorization follows an $80 billion addition made four months earlier, making the combined remaining authorization the largest in corporate history by total dollar amount.
Stock buybacks are repurchases by a company of its own shares on the open market. They reduce the number of outstanding shares, which mechanically increases earnings per share and typically supports the stock price. Shareholders who sell into the buyback receive cash; those who hold see their proportional ownership increase.
The federal government currently taxes corporate stock buybacks at a 1 percent excise rate. That levy was established by Section 4501 of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169). The tax applies to the fair market value of stock repurchased by a publicly traded domestic corporation during the taxable year, net of new stock issuances. At 1 percent applied to $235 billion, the maximum federal excise exposure across the full authorized amount would approach $2.35 billion, though the actual taxable figure depends on issuance offsets and the pace of repurchases.
Legislative debate over the buyback excise rate has continued since the Inflation Reduction Act passed. Several Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Sherrod Brown before his 2024 Senate loss, had previously proposed raising the rate to 4 percent in legislation that did not advance. On the Republican side, some members of the House Ways and Means Committee argued during 2025 budget reconciliation discussions that even the 1 percent rate creates a disincentive to capital return programs that benefit retail investors and pension funds. Neither chamber has moved a standalone buyback tax bill to a floor vote as of September 28, 2026.
Nvidia's buyback authorization is notable in the context of the artificial intelligence investment cycle. The company reported net income of $72.88 billion for its fiscal year ending January 26, 2025, according to its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 10-K, filed February 26, 2025). The $235 billion remaining authorization therefore represents more than three years of net income at that fiscal-year rate, though Nvidia's earnings have grown substantially in subsequent quarters.
Federal procurement is also a factor in Nvidia's revenue base. According to USASpending.gov, Nvidia Corporation has received federal contract and grant obligations across multiple agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, though the precise cumulative total through September 2026 would require a current USASpending.gov query to confirm. The intersection of federal contracting revenue and a record buyback authorization has drawn no formal congressional inquiry as of this writing, though committee jurisdiction would rest with House Armed Services and Senate Armed Services for defense-related contracts, and House Ways and Means and Senate Finance for tax treatment.
For context on corporate buyback history, Apple Inc. Held the previous record for single-company repurchase authorizations, having authorized approximately $110 billion in a single announcement in May 2024, according to its Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 2, 2024. Nvidia's $235 billion remaining total exceeds that figure by more than double.
Investors who sell shares back to Nvidia may owe capital gains taxes at rates ranging from 0 percent to 23.8 percent depending on holding period and income level, under current federal law. Whether Congress adjusts either the corporate excise rate or individual capital gains rates in the next budget reconciliation cycle remains an open legislative question as of the publication date.
Several material facts are not yet publicly available. The precise quarterly schedule of Nvidia's repurchases will be disclosed in future Form 10-Q and 10-K filings with the SEC. The net taxable amount after issuance offsets, which determines the actual excise tax liability, is unknown until those filings are made. Any congressional hearing or markup specifically addressing the buyback excise rate in response to Nvidia's announcement has not been scheduled as of September 28, 2026. Those documents, once filed, would be publicly accessible through the SEC's EDGAR database.
The story of how federal AI policy intersects with corporate capital allocation has been an ongoing subject of coverage. Earlier reporting at The Congressional Times examined how AI-sector executives have engaged directly with federal policymakers, including a private dinner between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and President Trump that raised questions about the boundary between private sector AI development and executive branch policy.