aibioUnited Therapeutics authorizes another $2 billion share repurchase
Tickers UTHR
The new program runs through Oct. 21, 2027, on top of a September accelerated repurchase that is still open. The company's cash was $3.80 billion at June 30.
Key facts
- Company
- United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR)
- News type
- Financings
- Primary source
- United Therapeutics press release (SEC exhibit)
United Therapeutics authorized a new share repurchase program of up to $2.0 billion, available through Oct. 21, 2027. The company announced it on Oct. 22.
It is the company's second $2.0 billion authorization of 2026. The first, approved in March, was fully committed by a September ASR. An accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreement entered in September remains open and does not reduce the new authorization.
The details
The new program can be carried out through ASRs, open-market purchases or privately negotiated deals, with no minimum number of shares. The company can start or stop at any time. The ASR it entered in September has a scheduled end in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Chief Financial Officer James Edgemond said: "We have the balance sheet and free cash flow to fund our long-term ambitions and the confidence to act decisively when our own shares represent a compelling investment." The company added that any purchases will depend on market conditions and alternative uses of capital.
The earlier buybacks add up. In March, the company entered two ASRs with Citibank for about $1.5 billion, and it bought another $22.4 million on the open market in the third quarter. On Sept. 8 it entered a third ASR with Citi to use the remainder of the March authorization, for approximately $477.6 million, with an initial delivery of about 75% of the expected shares. The company had about 42.9 million shares outstanding on Sept. 4.
Context
CEO Martine Rothblatt said in the September release that "the market is not yet reflecting the scale of what United Therapeutics is positioned to achieve" and that the company would have returned $4 billion to shareholders in about 2.5 years once the ASR was complete.
The cash is there, but it is shrinking. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable investments were $3.80 billion at June 30, down from $4.70 billion at the end of 2025, and the company had nothing drawn on its $2.5 billion revolving credit facility. Interest income fell to $31.5 million in the second quarter from $51.3 million a year earlier, mainly because securities were sold to pay for the March ASRs.
Revenue has been flat to down. Second-quarter revenue was $783.3 million, down 2%. Net income rose 8% to $333.0 million, with an effective tax rate of 11%.
What it means for investors
A second $2.0 billion authorization within eight months is a statement about where management sees the best use of cash. It reduces share count and supports per-share earnings, which rose 13% in the second quarter on diluted terms while revenue fell. It does not add revenue.
The company's own commentary points to growth coming from approvals, not from the existing business. In the second-quarter release it said it expects potential approvals in 2027 for Nebulized Tyvaso in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and ralinepag tablets in pulmonary arterial hypertension. If those slip or are limited, buybacks will have used cash that could have funded other options.
The Liquidia settlement should add cash soon. United Therapeutics expects $185 million within 30 business days of Oct. 13, with further installments in 2027.
What to watch
The September ASR settles in the fourth quarter of 2026. United Therapeutics has also said it plans to submit an IND for ralinepag DPI and an NDA for treprostinil SMI by the end of the year, as described in its second-quarter release.