Let’s take a moment to reflect on the benefits of share buybacks. That might sound like a wonky concept, but it’s important. Buybacks shrink the number of shares outstanding, raising the value of the stock that remains. Lately, as AI worries have battered tech stocks, several companies have unveiled expanded buybacks. The latest example is Pinterest, which revealed Tuesday that longtime shareholder Elliott Management had agreed to invest an additional $1 billion in the online scrapbooking firm to fund an expanded share buyback. Including share purchases financed from Pinterest’s existing cash reserves, the company will buy back a total of $2 billion in the first half of this year, it said. As its market capitalization was just $11.6 billion as of Monday night, that theoretically means Pinterest could shrink its outstanding shares by about 17% in a six-month period. (As the share price will rise during the buyback, though, the impact is likely to be a little less.) That’s a gutsy signal on the part of Elliott and Pinterest, indicating their confidence in the company’s prospects despite uncertainty caused by AI. Pinterest stock has lately fallen to its lowest point since the pandemic market crash of early 2020. (More on this, see here and here ). The news sent Pinterest stock jumping 9%, although at Tuesday’s close of $19.10, it’s still well below where it was trading as recently as January.