Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements: The Search for the Company with a Durable Competitive Advantage

by Mary Buffett

To find out if a company is buying back its shares, go to the cash flow statement and look under Cash from Investing Activities. There you will find a heading titled “Issuance (Retirement) of Stock, Net.”

In other words, one of the indicators of the presence of a durable competitive advantage is a “history” of the company repurchasing or retiring its shares.