I threw under a billion within a year as an off the cuff example that if they did so, it would only be by intention and that it would not happen immediately. Realistically I do think it would take longer.
But let's say they do a buyback that is substantial enough. Most likely we'll see a PR that tells us they plan to buyback X shares over the next X years. It doesn't have to be feasible that at the time of the PR they can actually get 4 billion shares. IT only needs to be their projected plan of action based on projected revenues over that same time frame. They can fall short on actually getting those 4 billion after X years, but what will really matter to us in the short term is the signal of company strength by their bullish outlook and intention.
An R/S can be good ONLY if it simultaneously allows us to switch to a big board and ends up attracting proportionately more investment, otherwise we are just losing value. In the longterm after the R/S is gone from everyone's minds, maybe it won't matter though anyway.
Gotta fix the SS. If it's through any means other than an R/S its going to be a real win/win scenario. Reward and value all around. Through an R/S it may get the job done eventually, but it's more like ripping a Band-Aid off really fast. Just get it over and done with. Based on the fact that a PR came out stating a reward for investors, it may not be a buyback, could be almost anything, but an R/S would look clownish.
