OK, does it usually mean some leading or lagging indicator that the company isn't doing well?
Re:Google announces Q1 2023 earnings [pdf]
by CydeWeys on Tuesday April 25, 2023 @05:41PM
(#35707111)
Not at all. It's literally just a more tax-efficient dividend. Everyone does it these days. Companies that are failing can't afford it; you can only do these when you have excess cash.
Apple has bought back roughly $75B per year since 2018, at least. https://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/stock_buyback
Search for "$big_company stock buyback" and you'll find just about any of them there