Yes, one should look at the recent Apple stock buy back. Which was followed by Warren Buffet’s huge stock purchase. He is taking a long position in Apple precisely because Apple has determined that they cannot put their capital in anything more valuable their own company (at this time). Buffet has already gained on his investment but guess what?
This capital is not gone. Apple can still support internal investments with the value of the company’s equity. People need to realize that the money did not go anywhere, investors have more value and they can spend on new investments and so can Apple. I think of it as investing in a new bathroom in your home. The money seems to be gone, but you have a nicer bathroom, and — the money is still there. When you sell the home you get it back. This is why it is so wrong to criticize a company for buying their own stock. It just means they have nothing better to invest in at the moment and don’t want to leave the money in cash. (Which probably earns a very small interest.)
I have a lot of Apple stock and just finished remodeling our bathroom for15k. All citizen workers and was 60% labor.