# Nvidia’s $235 Billion Buyback Plan Faces Questions Over Cash Availability

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/29360
Published: 2026-10-10T02:34:19.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-10T02:34:19.000Z
Section: Business

> Equity investments, employee stock-vesting tax withholdings and dilution-offsetting repurchases reduced cash available for shareholder returns in the first half of the fiscal year.

Nvidia’s $235 billion stock-buyback authorization faces questions over how much cash remains available for shareholder returns after strategic uses, including equity investments.

The company has emphasized free cash flow after strategic uses, but it has not formally changed its traditional free-cash-flow formula. Under that stated measure, Nvidia recorded $69.9 billion in free cash flow during the first half of its fiscal year through July 26.

Nvidia recorded $35.2 billion in net cash outflows for equity investments during the period. It also paid $4.5 billion in cash withholding taxes tied to employee stock vesting and spent about $9 billion on share repurchases intended to offset dilution from stock-based compensation.

Including those items would reduce the cash available for shareholder returns to about $21.7 billion, a decline of roughly 69% from the company’s stated free-cash-flow figure.

The company also added $24.9 billion in long-term debt during the period. Part of that borrowing supported additional share repurchases, while equity investments and other shareholder-related cash uses reduced the amount available for buybacks and dividends.

Nvidia expanded its buyback authorization by $150 billion on Sept. 28, bringing the total remaining authorization to $235 billion. The additional capacity is planned for repurchases through the end of fiscal 2028.

The company’s investments in artificial intelligence firms including OpenAI and Anthropic are linked to its chip sales, forming a funding cycle that has raised questions about the sustainability of the current AI investment boom.

Nvidia’s expanded authorization gives it room to continue repurchasing shares while investing in artificial intelligence and accelerated computing. The amount ultimately available for those shareholder returns will depend on how strategic uses of cash develop.