Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Sep. 26, 2020

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

Shareholders’ Equity

Share Repurchase Program

As of September 26, 2020, the Company was authorized to purchase up to $225 billion of the Company’s common stock under a share repurchase program, of which $168.6 billion had been utilized. During 2020, the Company repurchased 917 million shares of its common stock for $72.5 billion, including 141 million shares delivered under a $10.0 billion November 2019 accelerated share repurchase arrangement (“ASR”) and 64 million shares delivered under a $6.0 billion May 2020 ASR. The Company’s share repurchase program does not obligate it to acquire any specific number of shares. Under this program, shares may be repurchased in privately negotiated and/or open market transactions, including under plans complying with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

Shares of Common Stock

The following table shows the changes in shares of common stock for 2020, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):

	2020	2019	2018
Common stock outstanding, beginning balances	17,772,945	19,019,943	20,504,805
Common stock repurchased	(917,270)	(1,380,819)	(1,622,198)
Common stock issued, net of shares withheld for employee taxes	121,088	133,821	137,336
Common stock outstanding, ending balances	16,976,763	17,772,945	19,019,943