Lincoln Electric has retired 37.4% of its shares since 1999, from 87,055,002 to 54,505,757.
At $262.10 a share, a market value of $14.3B. FCF yield 3.8%, P/E 25.8, trailing twelve months to June 2026.
| Fiscal year | Date | Shares outstanding | Filing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000-02-29 | 87,055,002 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2000 | 2000-12-31 | 84,677,606 | 10-K405 | cover page |
| 2001 | 2001-12-31 | 84,738,290 | 10-K405 | cover page |
| 2002 | 2002-12-31 | 84,174,230 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2003 | 2003-12-31 | 81,209,926 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2004 | 2004-12-31 | 83,293,314 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2005 | 2005-12-31 | 84,362,042 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2006 | 2006-12-31 | 85,612,858 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2007 | 2007-12-31 | 85,923,358 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2008 | 2008-12-31 | 85,043,256 | 10-K | cover page |
| 2009 | 2009-12-31 | 85,274,494 | 10-K | |
| 2010 | 2010-12-31 | 84,241,600 | 10-K | |
| 2011 | 2011-12-31 | 83,757,366 | 10-K | |
| 2012 | 2012-12-31 | 82,944,817 | 10-K | |
| 2013 | 2013-12-31 | 81,010,084 | 10-K | |
| 2014 | 2014-12-31 | 76,997,161 | 10-K | |
| 2015 | 2015-12-31 | 70,693,389 | 10-K | |
| 2016 | 2017-01-31 | 65,702,072 | 10-K | |
| 2017 | 2018-01-31 | 65,644,512 | 10-K | |
| 2018 | 2019-01-31 | 63,238,446 | 10-K | |
| 2019 | 2020-01-31 | 60,364,079 | 10-K | |
| 2020 | 2021-01-31 | 59,662,036 | 10-K | |
| 2021 | 2022-01-31 | 58,732,179 | 10-K | |
| 2022 | 2023-01-31 | 57,581,543 | 10-K | |
| 2023 | 2024-01-31 | 56,822,805 | 10-K | |
| 2024 | 2025-01-31 | 56,095,332 | 10-K | |
| 2025 | 2026-01-31 | 54,805,365 | 10-K |
Source: all 10-K filings of Lincoln Electric on EDGAR. Download this series as CSV. Licence CC BY 4.0, credit Buyback Radar.
The story
Every Monday we write about one of these companies.
Read the full storyCash spent comes from the cash flow statement. Shares outstanding fell by less than the company bought, because part of every buyback only replaces shares handed to employees. Today’s price is $262.10.
Loading the chart from TradingView…
All-time chart by TradingView. Open it on TradingView →
Yes. Lincoln Electric has 0.9% fewer shares outstanding than twelve months ago, 54,505,757 as of June 30, 2026. Over five years the share count is down 7.7%.
Net of every new share it issued, Lincoln Electric has 32.5 million fewer shares than at its 1999 peak. That is 37.4% of the company.
54,505,757 shares, as of June 30, 2026, from the cover page of its latest 10-Q. At the 1999 peak it had 87,055,002.
Each share is a bigger slice of the company. Someone who held Lincoln Electric stock in 1999 owns 1.6 times as much of the business today without buying another share. Whether that was a good use of cash depends on the price paid.
Lincoln Electric ranks No. 196 of 467 companies on Buyback Radar by share of the company retired since its peak. Close to it on the list: Valvoline (37.8%), CarMax (37.5%), Jefferies (37.4%), Copart (37.3%).
Every answer is computed from Lincoln Electric's own SEC filings and rebuilt every Monday. Latest count: 10-Q on EDGAR.
From the latest 13F filings. All superinvestors.
Free. Your email goes to Substack, which runs the newsletter. Privacy