Ford Motor Co. has unveiled a share repurchase program — but it differs from General Motors Co.'s buyback efforts in a big way.

The Dearborn automaker on Friday announced a plan to buy up to 31.7 million common shares of Ford stock. It's an anti-dilutive measure that seeks to minimize impact on its share price from the company's grant of stock awards as a part of compensation packages to executives and other employees. It's the first buyback Ford has issued since 2024, spokesperson Dave Tovar said.

When Ford pays out stock awards to employees, it increases the number of shares in the company. A greater supply of ownership pieces on the market can cause a decrease in the share price. By buying back stock in anticipation of this, Ford reduces the supply of shares, helping to keep up the stock price. Between 2021 and 2024, the company took similar actions.

Ford CEO Jim Farley told white-collar employees in February that bonuses would be set to 130% after improvements in initial vehicle quality, according to Reuters. Quality results hurt executive compensation last year.

Analysts have said Ford's lack of willingness to repurchase shares has contributed to a lack of stock price growth, relying instead on measures like dividends for shareholder returns. General Motors Co., on the other hand, has been more aggressive with buybacks. The Detroit automaker's board has approved a $6 billion share repurchase program for the year.

Ford's shares are up roughly 18% year-over-year and down 5% over the past five years. Meanwhile, GM's shares are roughly flat from a year ago, but up almost 29% over the past five years.

"This is a smart strategic move for Ford to take advantage of its stock under pressure," Daniel Ives, analyst at investment firm Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a statement. "This also shows confidence to investors at a much needed time. We applaud this move."

Ford has a regular dividend of 15 cents and sometimes has supplemental dividends, though the board didn't grant one this year, Tovar said. The company's annual dividend yield is 5.13%, according to data analytics firm Koyfin Inc., down from almost 6.5% last winter. GM's is less than 1%.

Ford in 2025 had a shareholder return of 42%. GM's was 54%. Ford posted adjusted free cash flow of $3.5 billion last year and is forecasting $5 billion to $6 billion this year. The measure refers to taking in more money than the company is spending.

In 2024, John Lawler, Ford's vice chair and then-chief financial officer, emphasized uncertainty and market risks in relation to a reluctance to issue stock buybacks. Electric vehicle sales missing expectations, a rollback on carbon emissions and incentives for EVs, and tariffs all have cast challenges for automakers and their planning.

"We understand that if we don't have a use for the cash or if the environment doesn't change, and we see that the risks that might be facing us diminish significantly, then we have to make sure that we handle that cash appropriately and either invest it or an accretive growth or pay it back to the shareholders," Lawler said. "And we will look at that every quarter, and we will adjust appropriately."

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