Wow, you went all the way around the block to get to the same wrong answer. We are not talking about all hypotheticals of stock buybacks. The discussion at hand is companies, right now, who are flush with cash due to the new tax law change. When they repurchase shares on the open market the stockholders (key word there...not people who have sold their stock) own shares that are proportionately worth more, not counting fluctuations of value from other variables. To say that the value of the company would decrease in that scenario is laughable. The value of the company would be exactly the same, but the value of each share still outstanding will have increased.
Jd steel is correct.The Apple example with Buffet is a prime example. However, there is the issue of hypothetical value with buybacks. The company shares may indeed be higher in value, but dividends are still the better deal for the investor.