Buybacks drive the share price up, and manipulate the stock by impacting it disproportionately to the amount of float reduction. Dividends pull the share price

Buybacks drive the share price up, and manipulate the stock by impacting it disproportionately to the amount of float reduction. Dividends pull the share price down, and allow the recipient to choose whether to reinvest or take cash. If the goal were simply to return capital or concentrate ownership, dividends would be more than sufficient. Buybacks have a different goal. Their goal is to inflate the stock, provide liquidity on selloff days, and take cash off the firm's balance sheet in a way that improves metrics used in fundamental analysis that compare the company's value to its earnings. Some companies compensate executives based on share price appreciation. In that environment, a share repurchase has tangible benefits for the executives who choose to do it.