I am not a financial expert but how are buybacks reflected in a company’s balance sheet? My theory is that buybacks give companies a false sense of complacency

I am not a financial expert but how are buybacks reflected in a company’s balance sheet? My theory is that buybacks give companies a false sense of complacency. If they do $1 billion worth of buybacks, it doesn’t feel they are really “giving out” $1 billion back to investors. Rather, $1 billion in cash just got converted to a long term asset(their shares). Thus this is how airlines get into a cash crunch. They are lulled to believe they can go crazy with buybacks with no consequences. If instead they did a special dividend for $1 billion, they would immediately feel the consequences. It is money taken straight out of their bank. Thus they would of course consider more carefully how much to give as a dividend. Just my theory and why I am against buybacks and for dividends only.