Can somebody help to explain what stock buybacks are?

1) reduce the amount of float, indirectly increasing EPS

2) alternative way to return money to shareholders

Generally, just know that a stock buyback occurs when a company buys back its shares from the marketplace (ofc at a competitive price mostly). The question is why!

1.) A buyback can reduce the number of outstanding shares on the market, which increases the ownership stake of the stakeholders - for eg gives the holders more control esp in small caps. This also gives some confidence to the retail investors...

2.) A company might buyback shares because it believes the market has discounted its shares too steeply, to invest in itself, or to improve its financial ratios- might be good or bad thing depending on their reasons.
Read from below for more details

Stock Buybacks: A Breakdown (investopedia.com)