NVIDIA Stock Pays Out $96 Bil – Investors Take Note

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In the last five years, NVIDIA (NVDA) stock has returned a notable $96 Bil back to its shareholders through cold, hard cash via dividends and buybacks. Let’s look at some numbers and compare how this payout power stacks up against the market’s biggest capital-return machines.

As it turns out, NVDA stock has returned the 10th highest amount to shareholders in history.

  NVDA S&P Median
Dividends $3.0 Bil $3.0 Bil
Share Repurchase $93 Bil $3.0 Bil
Total Returned $96 Bil $6.0 Bil
Total Returned as % of Current Market Cap 1.8% 17.5%

Why should you care? Because dividends and share repurchases represent direct, tangible returns of capital to shareholders. They also signal management’s confidence in the company’s financial health and ability to generate sustainable cash flows. And there are more stocks like that. Here is a list of the top 10 companies ranked by total capital returned to shareholders via dividends and stock repurchases.

Top 10 Stocks By Total Shareholder Return

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  Total Money Returned As % Of Current Market Cap via Dividends via Share Repurchases
AAPL $508 Bil 11.5% $76 Bil $432 Bil
GOOGL $288 Bil 6.0% $20 Bil $268 Bil
MSFT $223 Bil 7.1% $108 Bil $115 Bil
JPM $181 Bil 22.3% $72 Bil $108 Bil
XOM $157 Bil 23.7% $79 Bil $78 Bil
META $156 Bil 10.1% $12 Bil $145 Bil
BAC $129 Bil 35.7% $45 Bil $84 Bil
CVX $116 Bil 30.5% $58 Bil $57 Bil
WFC $108 Bil 47.7% $23 Bil $85 Bil
NVDA $96 Bil 1.8% $3.0 Bil $93 Bil

For full ranking, visit Buybacks & Dividends Ranking

What do you notice here? The total capital returned to shareholders as a % of the current market cap appears inversely proportional to growth prospects for reinvestments. Stocks like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are growing much faster, in a more predictable way, compared to the others, but they have returned a much lower fraction of their market cap to shareholders.

That’s the flip side to high capital returns. Sure, they are attractive, but you have to ask yourself the question: Am I sacrificing growth and sound fundamentals?

NVIDIA Fundamentals

  • Revenue Growth: 65.5% LTM and 101.8% last 3-year average.
  • Cash Generation: Nearly 44.8% free cash flow margin and 60.4% operating margin LTM.
  • Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for NVDA was 65.5%.
  • Valuation: NVIDIA stock trades at a P/E multiple of 45.6

  NVDA S&P Median
Sector Information Technology
Industry Semiconductors
PE Ratio 45.6 23.2

   
LTM* Revenue Growth 65.5% 7.4%
3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth 101.8% 5.7%
Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y 65.5% 0.8%

   
LTM* Operating Margin 60.4% 18.4%
3Y Average Operating Margin 59.0% 18.3%
LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin 44.8% 14.4%

*LTM: Last Twelve Months

The table gives a good overview of what you get from NVDA stock vs median S&P 500, but comparing against its own peers is just as important.

NVDA Historical Risk

There is no free lunch. When it comes to buybacks and dividends, shareholders get rewarded for “staying invested”. And that is not easy. Even the strongest conviction gets tested during volatile market phases, and is best illustrated by understanding how low NVDAstock has fallen during the past market crises.

Staying Invested Matters If You Want Returns

Staying invested in markets is the only way to get returns. The mechanism does not matter. Whether it is fundamental price appreciation, share buybacks or dividends, the market does not reward you for watching from the sidelines. So how do you invest, and stay invested? Simple. Through “Portfolio” approach.

The Trefis High Quality Portfolio (HQ) Portfolio is designed to keep you in the game. By spreading your exposure across 30 quality stocks, it neutralizes the “all-or-nothing” risk of a single stock. It dampens the sharp, stomach-churning drops while maintaining upside exposure.