**Apple and Microsoft: did buybacks reduce outstanding shares, FY2023–FY2025?**

Yes for Apple in every year; for Microsoft, only in 2023 at the filings’ published precision. Across the three fiscal years, Apple’s period-end shares fell **1,170.165 million (7.339%)**, versus Microsoft’s **30 million (0.402%)**. Apple reduced its count more in both absolute and percentage terms. These are calculations from the companies’ share roll-forwards, not estimates based on buyback announcements. [Apple 2025, Note 10][A25]; [Microsoft 2025, Note 15][M25].

Research cutoff: **2026-09-25 03:27:17 UTC**. This is a historical public-information comparison. Apple’s FY2023 ran September 25, 2022–September 30, 2023 (53 weeks); FY2024 October 1, 2023–September 28, 2024; FY2025 September 29, 2024–September 27, 2025 (52 weeks each). Microsoft’s corresponding years ran July 1 of the preceding year through June 30. These are different calendar windows. Opening balances are the preceding fiscal year-end balances, not filing-cover share counts measured later. [Apple, Note 1][A25]; [Microsoft, financial statement headings][M25].

All dollar columns below are **USD millions**; all share columns are **millions of shares**. Spending is shown positive. “Program” is executed repurchases reported in the equity note, not authorization. “CF” is the cash-flow statement’s repurchase outflow; its scope differs between companies. Apple’s program dollars are rounded to $0.1 billion. Diluted shares are the **weighted-average EPS denominator**, separate from opening/closing common shares.

| Company / FY | Fiscal year-end | Program $ | CF $ | Shares repurchased | Opening shares | Closing shares | Change shares | Change % | WA diluted shares | SBC expense $ |
|---|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Apple 2023 [A23] | 2023-09-30 | 76,600 | 77,550 | 471.419 | 15,943.425 | 15,550.061 | −393.364 | −2.467% | 15,812.547 | 10,833 |
| Apple 2024 [A24] | 2024-09-28 | 95,000 | 94,949 | 499.372 | 15,550.061 | 15,116.786 | −433.275 | −2.786% | 15,408.095 | 11,688 |
| Apple 2025 [A25] | 2025-09-27 | 89,300 | 90,711 | 401.672 | 15,116.786 | 14,773.260 | −343.526 | −2.272% | 15,004.697 | 12,863 |
| Microsoft 2023 [M23] | 2023-06-30 | 18,400 | 22,245 | 69 | 7,464 | 7,432 | −32 | −0.429% | 7,472 | 9,611 |
| Microsoft 2024 [M24] | 2024-06-30 | 11,960 | 17,254 | 32 | 7,432 | 7,434 | +2 | +0.027% | 7,469 | 10,734 |
| Microsoft 2025 [M25] | 2025-06-30 | 13,000 | 18,420 | 31 | 7,434 | 7,434 | 0 | 0.000% | 7,465 | 11,974 |

For every row, change = closing − opening; percentage = 100 × change/opening. Apple’s reported thousands of shares are divided by 1,000; Microsoft reports millions. No additional split adjustment is needed for these periods. Microsoft’s zero is a result at million-share precision, not proof of literally no share movement.

The core data use the 2025 reports’ three-year comparatives, checked against the original 2023/2024 reports. No changes to these extracted series were found. Microsoft’s 2025 Note 1 describes a segment recast without changes to consolidated balance sheets, income statements or cash flows. Apple’s 2025 Note 1 describes note reclassifications and retrospective segment-disclosure adoption. Neither justifies changing these share series. This review does not claim to survey every subsequent filing through the cutoff. [A25]; [M25].

The table’s exact source map is: Apple cash-flow statements, financing repurchases; Note 10, repurchase paragraph and common-share roll-forward; Note 3, diluted denominator; Note 11, compensation **expense** table. For Microsoft: cash-flow statements, financing repurchases; Note 16 in 2023/2024 or Note 15 in 2025, share roll-forward and program table; Note 2, diluted denominator; Note 18 in 2023/2024 or Note 17 in 2025, compensation expense. The JSON attaches a URL and table reference to each reported value. [A23]; [A24]; [A25]; [M23]; [M24]; [M25].

A worked share reconciliation for Apple FY2024 is **15,550.061 − 499.372 + 66.097 = 15,116.786 million**. The 66.097 million is issuance already net of employee tax withholding. The note separately reports approximately 31 million shares withheld; subtracting these again would double-count them. Across three years, Apple repurchased 1,372.463 million shares, offset by 202.298 million net issuance, leaving the 1,170.165 million reduction. [Apple 2024, Notes 10–11][A24]; [Apple 2025, Note 10][A25].

Microsoft FY2024 similarly reconciles **7,432 + 34 − 32 = 7,434 million**. Over three years, 132 million program repurchases were offset by 102 million on the aggregate issuance line. Employee awards and the employee stock purchase plan provide issuance mechanisms, but “issued” is not a complete gross employee-share breakdown. All six aggregate roll-forwards balance; detailed attribution among gross awards, withholding and other issuance is incomplete. The JSON leaves those detailed gaps unexplained rather than treating them all as compensation. [Microsoft 2024, Notes 16 and 18][M24]; [Microsoft 2025, Notes 15 and 17][M25].

Cash and equity measures require separate reconciliation:

- **Apple:** For 2023/2024/2025, equity repurchase charges are $77,046/$95,846/$90,052 million. CF spending minus these charges is **+$504/−$897/+$659 million**; CF minus rounded program amounts is **+$950/−$51/+$1,411 million**. The 2023 program amount explicitly excludes excise tax. The later annual notes do not explicitly specify tax inclusion or separately quantify fees. The full dollar bridges remain **unexplained**, not assumed to be taxes. Employee withholding cash is a separate financing line. [A23, statements and Note 10][A23]; [A24, statements and Note 10][A24]; [A25, statements and Note 10][A25].
- **Apple ASR timing:** The August 2023 accelerated repurchase involved $5 billion upfront and 22.085 million initial shares. Another **6.498 million** shares arrived in October 2023, in FY2024. This demonstrates payment/delivery timing differences, but does not fully bridge annual cash and equity. These deliveries are already in period totals. [2023 Item 5][A23]; [Q1 2024 Item 2, table and footnote 2][AQ1].
- **Microsoft:** CF exceeds program spending by **$3,845/$5,294/$5,420 million**. The equity note excludes employee tax-withholding repurchases of approximately **$3,800/$5,300/$5,400 million** from program totals. Remaining differences of **+$45/−$6/+$20 million** fit that disclosure’s rounding, but are not an exact disclosed bridge. Equity charges total $22,264/$17,259/$18,424 million; CF minus equity is **−$19/−$5/−$4 million**, also unexplained. No separate fees, buyback excise-tax amounts or ASR adjustments were identified in these disclosures. [2023 statements and Note 16][M23]; [2024 statements and Note 16][M24]; [2025 statements and Note 15][M25].

The accounting explanation is therefore that Apple repurchased substantially more shares than its offsetting net issuance, while Microsoft’s aggregate issuance largely offset purchases. It is not evidence that one company’s compensation policy was inherently better. SBC is a dollar accounting expense recognized over service periods, not a count of shares issued. Subtracting it from repurchased shares—or calling SBC/buyback dollars a direct dilution rate—would be invalid.

Repurchases spend corporate cash; net share reduction measures ownership units; shareholder value depends on price paid, business prospects and alternative uses of funds. These statements cannot establish undervaluation, predict returns or prove that buybacks improved the business. Weighted-average diluted shares also reflect transaction timing and potential dilution. Attributing an EPS increase to repurchases alone would require a counterfactual for earnings, financing and alternative investment that this study does not construct. No stock recommendation follows.

References (primary sources; original statement notes control):

[A23]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019323000106/aapl-20230930.htm
[A24]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019324000123/aapl-20240928.htm
[A25]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019325000079/aapl-20250927.htm
[M23]: https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar23/
[M24]: https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar24/
[M25]: https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar25/
[AQ1]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019324000006/aapl-20231230.htm

- [Apple FY2023 Form 10-K][A23]: cash flows p.32; equity p.31; Note 3 p.35; Note 10 pp.44–45; Note 11 pp.45–46; Item 5 p.18.
- [Apple FY2024 Form 10-K][A24]: cash flows p.33; equity p.32; Note 3 p.36; Note 10 p.44; Note 11 pp.44–45.
- [Apple FY2025 Form 10-K][A25]: cash flows p.33; equity p.32; Note 3 p.36; Note 10 pp.44–45; Note 11 p.45.
- [Microsoft FY2023 annual report][M23]: Cash Flows and Stockholders’ Equity Statements; Notes 2, 16 and 18.
- [Microsoft FY2024 annual report][M24]: same statements; Notes 2, 16 and 18.
- [Microsoft FY2025 annual report][M25]: same statements; Notes 1, 2, 15 and 17.
- [Apple Q1 FY2024 Form 10-Q][AQ1]: Item 2, issuer purchases, p.20; supplemental ASR settlement evidence.