Analog Devices recently announced a $1 billion dollar buyback which adds to its prior plan. Analog Devices makes chips used to sense heat, motion, pressure, light or sound for electronic equipment. The stock trades for 12x cash flow.

The Santa Clara, CA based chipmaker recently announced a new $2 billion dollar stock buyback program which could amount to 25% of outstanding shares (including the final part of its existing program). The company also announced late last week that its revenue slide will end this quarter. The chipmaker reported that Q4 profit fell year over year but it did beat analyst expectations which sent shares skyrocketing. A nice win on the earnings front combined with the share buyback have investors once again looking hard at the company. "We believe that the leveraged share repurchase program is an effective way to improve the company's capital structure, and it reflects management's confidence in National's robust business model and future growth prospects," said National Chief Executive Brian L. Halla. Standard & Poor's upgraded the stock to BUY from neutral saying that the company’s strong forecast on top of margin improvement and the recently announced buyback puts the company is a great position. It also lifted its target price to $32 fro $27, based on 20 times a new fiscal year 2009 earning estimate of $1.60 a share. Another analyst, Tore Svanberg of Piper Jaffray, pointed out that “now they're not just viewed as a value stock. They're not just leveraging gross margin but accelerated revenue growth."

Wynn Resorts recently announced a $1.2 billion dollar buyback. Wynn Resorts’ 2008 estimates were recently lowered at Jeffries but they reiterated a BUY rating with a $116 price target. The stock trades for a PE of 14.

The company recently announced it added $500 million to its stock buyback program. The additional $500 million in shares boosts AutoZone's total buyback authorization to $5.9 billion. This translates into a whopping 65% of outstanding shares. The Memphis, TN based auto parts retailer recently announced a solid fiscal Q3 with profits jumping 5% on increased sales and margin improvements. The company’s buyback program certainly helped boost EPS numbers also but the company continues to work on supply chain efficiencies. At the beginning of 2007, super investor Mario Gabelli noted that AZO was one of his picks primarily because of their enormous buyback program.

Callaway Golf recently announced a $100 million dollar buyback which replaces its prior plan. Callaway Golf Co., a maker of golf clubs, balls and accessories, boosted its full-year profit outlook in May, as efforts to improve margins take hold. The stock was also recently upgraded by Matrix Research. The stock trades for a forward PE of 16.

Celanese Corp. recently announced a $330 million dollar buyback. Chemical producer Celanese Corp. said Tuesday its second-quarter results will likely fall short of Wall Street's expectations, as it temporarily shuts down some acetic acid production to conduct additional plant repairs. The stock didn’t respond much to the news as the company reiterated it was on pace with full year numbers. The stock trades for 6x cash flow.

A director, Steven Kirby, bought 40,000 shares or $610,000 worth of stock. VeraSun Energy Corporation engages in the production and sale of ethanol and its co-products in the United States. The stock trades for 6.5x cash flow.

The first reason we looked at SUNW was because we saw Michael Marks, a board member, recently purchased 200,000 shares or nearly $1.1M worth of stock. This was the largest insider purchase in nearly 3 years. Sun Microsystems, Inc., the Santa Clara based software giant, recently announced weaker than expected Q3 numbers but it did post its second quarterly profit in a row which is a first in over 6 years. On top of this, the company announced a $3 billion dollar buyback program in mid May. “With over $5.4 billion in cash and marketable debt securities, we have maintained a strong balance sheet and feel confident that this program will allow us to further pursue strategic opportunities for growth," said Michael Lehman, chief financial officer, in a statement. Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff said that the recent downdraft in the stock price presents a nice buying opportunity because he “believes that its outlook may still be conservative given new products, cost focus and better execution. He has an Outperform rating on the stock.