I agree that a lot of these arguments seem pretty naive and lack understanding about how markets and the economy work. Also there is nothing inherently wrong with stock buybacks at all I think. However, I think everyone would benefit by realizing that these "unpredictable" events are actually not that rare and we should be prepared for them. Companies should keep more cash for unpredictable scenarios. It didn't have to be a pandemic, it could have been war, volcanic eruptions, terrorism etc. Companies should not assume it will always be "good times". Also these types of events seem to trigger chain reactions that make leverage and financial tricks really risky, so keeping cash I think is good.