Fewer shares add about 4 to 6 points to per-share earnings growth at four large companies

Mastercard, Visa and O'Reilly Automotive reported third-quarter or fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share that grew faster than net income, and Chipotle's per-share profit fell less than its net income. In each case the diluted share count was lower than a year earlier by between 3.2% and 5.4%, according to the companies' own releases. The pattern is arithmetic: dividing profit by fewer shares raises the per-share figure.

The comparison below uses figures from each company's earnings release. Percentages marked as computed are calculated from the statements and are not stated by the companies.

Mastercard and Visa: a gap of about four percentage points

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) reported net income of $4,628 million for the third quarter against $3,927 million a year earlier, up 17.9% (computed), and diluted earnings per share of $5.28 against $4.34, up 21.7% (computed). Diluted weighted-average shares were 876 million against 905 million, 3.2% fewer (computed), according to its earnings release. Per-share growth was therefore 3.8 percentage points faster than net income growth (computed). The quarter's repurchases were 5.3 million shares at a cost of $3.0 billion, the release said. FinanceInTime covered the results earlier.

Visa (NYSE: V) reported fiscal fourth-quarter GAAP net income of $6.0 billion, or $3.19 per share, "an increase of 18% and 22%, respectively," in its release. The weighted-average number of diluted shares of class A common stock was 1,882 million against 1,945 million a year earlier, 3.2% fewer (computed). Visa said it repurchased approximately 11 million class A shares for $4.0 billion in the quarter and about 61 million shares for $20.5 billion in the twelve months ended September 30, 2026. FinanceInTime's brief on Visa's results has the revenue and dividend decision.

Visa has several classes of stock, and the release notes that repurchases of class A shares also reduce the as-converted counts of its other classes. The class A figure above is therefore a partial view of the total share count; it is used here because the release reports it directly.

O'Reilly: the widest gap

O'Reilly Automotive (Nasdaq: ORLY) reported third-quarter net income of $785,621 thousand against $725,896 thousand, up 8.2% (computed). Diluted earnings per share were $0.97 against $0.85, up 14.1% (computed), and diluted shares were 812,201 thousand against 852,704 thousand, 4.7% fewer (computed), according to its release. The gap between per-share and net income growth was 5.9 percentage points (computed), the largest of the four.

The company said it repurchased 11.8 million shares in the quarter at an average price of $87.34, for a total of $1.03 billion. Its chief executive, Brad Beckham, attributed the 14% increase in diluted earnings per share to "top-line growth, coupled with a $39 million benefit from tariff refunds received during the third quarter." The release does not break the increase into the part from the share count and the part from the tariff refunds. FinanceInTime's article on the results discusses both.

Chipotle: a smaller decline per share

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) reported third-quarter net income of $339,874 thousand against $382,103 thousand, 11.1% lower (computed), and diluted earnings per share of $0.27 against $0.29, a decrease of 6.9%, according to its release. Diluted weighted-average shares were 1,267,703 thousand against 1,339,522 thousand, 5.4% fewer (computed).

Per-share earnings therefore fell 4.2 percentage points less than net income (computed). Chipotle's release said it repurchased $110.0 million of stock at an average price of $34.05 in the third quarter. That amount alone would not explain a 5.4% lower share count; the cash flow statement shows $1,464.9 million of repurchases in the nine months against $1,683.7 million a year earlier, which indicates that the reduction accumulated over a longer period (computed from the statements; the release does not state it).

Adjusted and nine-month measures point the same way

The pattern holds on other bases. Visa's non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was up 13% and its non-GAAP earnings per share up 17%, a four-point gap on the company's own adjusted figures. Chipotle's adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.27 against $0.29, the same as the GAAP figures.

Chipotle's nine-month figures show the same direction over a longer period: net income of $1,046,245 thousand against $1,204,829 thousand, 13.2% lower (computed), diluted earnings per share of $0.82 against $0.89, 7.9% lower (computed), and diluted shares 5.0% fewer (computed).

What the four releases show

Company	Net income change (computed)	Diluted EPS change	Diluted shares change (computed)
Mastercard	+17.9%	+21.7% (computed)	-3.2%
Visa (GAAP)	+18%	+22%	-3.2% (class A)
O'Reilly	+8.2%	+14.1% (computed)	-4.7%
Chipotle	-11.1%	-6.9%	-5.4%

Source: the companies' releases cited above.

The size of the share-count effect differs because the share counts fell by different amounts, and the effect is not the only thing separating net income from per-share profit: Mastercard's release attributes part of its lower effective tax rate to discrete tax benefits, and O'Reilly's includes the tariff refunds. The releases do not isolate how much of each company's per-share growth came from fewer shares.

What the data does show is that the per-share measure is flattering relative to net income at all four companies, by 3.8 to 5.9 percentage points (computed). A reader comparing earnings per share growth across companies with different buyback intensity is comparing different things; net income growth, revenue growth and the share count are reported next to it in each release.

What to watch

Visa's board declared an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.780 per share, according to its release, and each company reports share counts again with its next quarterly results. If the diluted share counts keep falling at the rates above, per-share growth would continue to run ahead of net income growth by a similar margin, all else equal. Repurchase pace can change from quarter to quarter.