If the long term debt increases during a period of buybacks, particularly more than net income, than yeah this is the case. And yes that happens. BTW, this is

If the long term debt increases during a period of buybacks, particularly more than net income, than yeah this is the case. And yes that happens. BTW, this is exactly what private equity companies do when they take a company private. They borrow a lot of money to buy the outstanding stock. Often the company they are buying with debt (held by the company) is not profitable. And sometimes the company goes bankrupt. So yes this happens.