There is a middle ground between having enough cash reserves to survive for months, and not having cash at all because everything has been bled out in dividends and buybacks; namely, having enough cash reserves to survive for some time, but not for several months.
Because your competitor who ploughs all their money into growth and rewarding shareholders would crush you within a year. Everyone loves to watch their 401k go up every quarter but hates the reality of how that happens. Sort of like people who love cooking meat but are disgusted by an image of a slaughterhouse.
