How to Find Stock Repurchases Before the Market Prices Them In

Where are repurchases actually announced?

A repurchase is disclosed in one of four filings on SEC EDGAR:

1. 8-K Item 8.01 (Other Events) — the most common vehicle for new authorizations. The filing goes on EDGAR the moment the issuer submits it; wire services typically republish 3-10 minutes later.
2. Press release attached as 8-K Exhibit 99.1 — often the same body copy as the wire, embedded as an exhibit. Same timing as the 8-K itself.
3. 10-Q or 10-K, Item 703 (Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities) — the table showing what was actually executed. This confirms whether a prior authorization is being used or is sitting idle.
4. Schedule TO / 13E-4 — tender offer for the issuer's own stock. Rare, high-signal, always material.

The 4-step direct-from-EDGAR workflow

Step 1: The full-text search

SEC.gov's EDGAR full-text search supports quoted phrases and form filters. The queries that surface real repurchase events without noise:

• "share repurchase program" filtered to form 8-K
• "stock repurchase" with a market-cap-appropriate date range
• "tender offer" filtered to Schedule TO
• "accelerated share repurchase" — surfaces ASR contracts, which are executed commitments

Step 2: The RSS feed

Every EDGAR search page produces an Atom feed. Bookmark the feed URL and subscribe in any RSS reader. The feed updates within seconds of a new filing being accepted. Free, official, no rate limit for reasonable polling.

Step 3: The issuer-specific watchlist

For a small-cap you follow, subscribe to the company's EDGAR CIK-specific RSS feed. Every filing (8-K, 10-Q, Form 4 insider transactions) shows up in a single feed. This is how you catch a repurchase authorization that never gets picked up by wire services because the company is too small for the news wires' attention.

Step 4: The Item 703 confirmation

When the next 10-Q lands, look at Item 703. This is the table of shares actually repurchased in the prior quarter with monthly breakdown, average price paid, and remaining authorization. If a company announced a $100M program six months ago and Item 703 shows zero shares purchased, the announcement was theater.

What does the price action typically look like?

Across small-caps in the $1M-$300M band, the empirical pattern following a >5%-of-float authorization tends to unfold in three phases:

• Day 0 (announcement day): 2-6% pop into the close on materially higher volume. Retail-driven; overshoots often.
• Days 1-5: Half the initial pop typically retraces as day-traders exit. This is where the algorithms that read wire feeds have already moved on.
• Days 5-45: If the company actually starts buying, the daily 10b-18 volume (capped at 25% of ADV) shows up in the daily volume as consistent price support. This is where the durable outperformance historically appears — but only in the names that execute.

What should you look for in the filing itself?

• Dollar amount AND share count. If only dollars are given, divide by the current price to get the implied share count.
• Percentage of float, not shares outstanding. Float excludes insider-held shares that aren't for sale; % of float is what matters for demand impact.
• Time window. "Up to $50M through 2028" is one-third the intensity of "Up to $50M through 2026."
• Funding source. Look for language like "from cash on hand" (strongest), "from operating cash flow" (strong), "including credit facility" (weaker, especially at high rates).
• Simultaneous convertible/ATM disclosure. If the same 8-K discusses new debt or ATM shelf capacity, the repurchase may be offsetting dilution rather than reducing share count.

Advanced signals

Two situations produce the strongest asymmetry:

1. Post-selloff authorizations. A board that authorizes an aggressive repurchase within 30 days of a >25% selloff has told you (a) they think the drawdown is overdone and (b) they are willing to put balance sheet against that view. Historically the strongest setup.
2. Insider buying + repurchase authorization stacked. When Form 4 insider open-market purchases in the prior 30 days precede a board authorization, both signals point the same direction. Rarer, historically strong.

What should you NOT trust?

Paid promotional emails and small-cap stock-alert services often frame a stale authorization ("Company X has approved a share repurchase program!") as if the news were fresh, when the authorization was announced quarters ago. Always check the original 8-K on EDGAR and note the acceptance date. If the news is more than 2 weeks old, the pop is over.

Frequently asked questions

How fast does EDGAR publish 8-K filings?

EDGAR accepts and publishes 8-K filings essentially in real time during its acceptance hours (6:00 AM - 10:00 PM ET, Monday-Friday). The typical delay from an issuer clicking 'submit' to public availability is under 60 seconds.

Do I need a paid EDGAR subscription?

No. EDGAR is a fully free public service run by the SEC. The full-text search, RSS feeds, and all filings are free. Paid third-party aggregators can be faster or better formatted but rarely earlier than EDGAR itself.

Which is the fastest signal — 8-K, 10-Q, or press wire?

8-K Item 8.01, if the company files the repurchase announcement as an 8-K (most do). The wire is typically 3-10 minutes behind because it re-publishes from a source that pulled from EDGAR or the company's IR feed.

What about repurchases announced only on an earnings call?

Verbal-only repurchase commentary on earnings calls is not a filing and carries no legal commitment. Look for the same information restated in the earnings 8-K exhibit or in the following 10-Q — that is when it becomes formally disclosed.

Do all small-caps announce repurchases on 8-K?

Most do, because failing to disclose material repurchase activity in the current period could create a Regulation FD problem. Some very small foreign private issuers use 6-K instead of 8-K, but the domestic $1M-$300M universe is essentially all 8-K.