Meta Platforms (META) Stock Buybacks: 12.2% of Shares Retired Since 2017

Name: Meta Platforms (META) shares outstanding since 2012, split adjusted
Creator: Buyback Radar
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Shares outstanding, 2012 to todaysplit adjusted, from SEC filings

2012, 2,006,000,0002026-07-24, 2,547,506,225

Early years use the fiscal-year average share count from the 10-K.

A share bought in 2014

1.0× more of Meta Platforms today, without buying another share. It was one of 2,614,000,000 shares then. It is one of 2,547,506,225 now.

Every filing we read14 fiscal years, split adjusted

Fiscal year	Date	Shares outstanding	Filing
2012	2012-12-31	2,006,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2013	2013-12-31	2,420,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2014	2014-12-31	2,614,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2015	2015-12-31	2,803,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2016	2016-12-31	2,863,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2017	2017-12-31	2,901,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2018	2018-12-31	2,890,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2019	2019-12-31	2,854,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2020	2020-12-31	2,851,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2021	2021-12-31	2,815,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2022	2022-12-31	2,687,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2023	2023-12-31	2,574,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2024	2024-12-31	2,534,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average
2025	2025-12-31	2,521,000,000	10-K	fiscal-year average

Source: all 10-K filings of Meta Platforms on EDGAR. Download this series as CSV. Licence CC BY 4.0, credit Buyback Radar.

Meta Platforms buybacks, answered

Is Meta Platforms buying back its stock?

Not on a net basis. Meta Platforms has 1.1% more shares outstanding than twelve months ago. Whatever it bought back did not cover the new shares it issued. Over five years the share count is down 9.5%.

How many shares has Meta Platforms bought back?

Net of every new share it issued, Meta Platforms has 353.5 million fewer shares than at its 2017 peak. That is 12.2% of the company.

How many shares does Meta Platforms have outstanding?

2,547,506,225 shares, as of July 24, 2026, from the cover page of its latest 10-Q. At the 2017 peak it had 2,901,000,000.

What do Meta Platforms' buybacks mean for a shareholder?

Each share is a bigger slice of the company. Someone who held Meta Platforms stock in 2017 owns 1.1 times as much of the business today without buying another share. Whether that was a good use of cash depends on the price paid.

How does Meta Platforms compare with other cannibal stocks?

Meta Platforms ranks No. 247 of 251 companies on Buyback Radar by share of the company retired since its peak. Close to it on the list: Axalta Coating Systems (12.7%), Newell Brands (12.2%), TripAdvisor (12.2%), Vail Resorts (12.0%).

Every answer is computed from Meta Platforms' own SEC filings and rebuilt every Monday. Latest count: 10-Q on EDGAR.