Feb. 12 at 4:19 AM
$PYPL A declining stock price doesn’t concern me nearly as much as a declining competitive position.
Buybacks only create value if the underlying business is stable or improving. If revenue growth is compressing, margins are tightening, and stock-based compensation offsets repurchases, you’re not reducing the float…you’re maintaining optics.
Dividends don’t signal strength if core growth is uncertain. They signal limited reinvestment opportunity.
Financial engineering can smooth EPS.
It cannot restore innovation.
It cannot reverse competitive erosion.
It cannot manufacture durable growth.
Until fundamentals prove stabilization )”not promise it”), capital return strategies are secondary.
Price ultimately reflects business quality. Not sentiment. Not hope. Not narratives.
That’s the distinction investors should be focused on.
