Stocks

Why Apple is borrowing money to pay for $60B stock buyback

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 26, 2013

To bolster its stock in the eyes of investors, Apple recently announced it would buy back $60 billion worth of shares. Such a move makes sense - after all, the iPhone maker does have this cash hoard of nearly $150 billion. However, it turns out Apple won't touch that money, opting instead to borrow the funds.

By borrowing the money, Apple keeps its billions out of the reach of U.S. taxes, saving the corporate giant money while also retiring expensive stock dividends.

You didn't think there was any altruism involved, did you? The move, however, isn't without its pitfalls. Moreover, Apple isn't alone in a corporate game of chess where it's all about manipulating the tax code, according to a report Friday...

New Apple supplier concerns drag share down

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Spring is just around the corner, the sun is shining and new concerns about Apple suppliers appear like so many dandelions. Never mind CEO Tim Cook said it's impossible to determine the health of the iPhone maker simply by looking at suppliers.

Just as Washington, DC trades in political rumors, Wall Street and Silicon Valley are back with new scuttlebutt about Apple's supply chain.

As a result, Apple's stock dipped lower Monday on word that orders to suppliers were the worst on record - at least for one analyst. Others believe higher sales of iPad minis versus the larger tablet is cause for concern, while still others forecast a slow summer and then return to profitability...

AAPL dips below $400B, Buffett tells Cook to ignore cash complaints, buy back stock

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

You can't get a better financial advisor than Warren Buffett. The so-called 'Oracle of Omaha' Monday weighed in on what Apple should do, faced with low stock prices and one investor's call to use the iPhone maker's billions in cash. Although Buffett's appearance Monday morning on CNBC lasted three hours, the short version is this:

Apple CEO Tim Cook should buy his company's stock while cheap. It's uncertain whether the financial whiz will have any luck, seeing Cook's predecessor Steve Jobs supposedly ignored similar advice. Coincidentally or not, Apple’s market capitalization dropped below $400 billion in early trading Monday, the first such drop since January 2012...

Apple executives required to hold 3x base salary in AAPL stock

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

If you wanted to make sure that your business' executive team was deeply committed to making it thrive, it'd probably be a good idea to make sure they held a lot of company stock. That way, their livelihoods directly depended on its success.

And that's exactly the way it works at Apple. The company has amended its corporate bylaws to require that executive officers hold three times their annual (base) salary in AAPL stock, and it's even higher for Tim Cook and his board of directors...

Tim Cook talks new Apple campus, new products and more at shareholder meeting

Cody Lee ∙ February 27, 2013

Apple held its annual shareholder meeting this morning on its Cupertino campus. The company used the gathering to address concerns of investors, offer up some insight into its future, and of course to vote on a number of proposals.

Tim Cook did a lot of the talking, and fielded some pretty difficult questions from shareholders who are obviously disappointed with Apple's recent stock slide. As usual, we have a roundup of all of the interesting stuff after the fold...

Apple responds to recent calls for it to return cash to shareholders

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 28, 2016

Apple has just issued a statement regarding its commitment to return some of its extremely large—now more than $130 billion— cash pile to shareholders, saying that the company and its Board of Directors are in "active discussions" on what to do with its money.

The comment follows a press release sent to Apple investors this morning by Greenlight Capital, a major Apple shareholder, calling for the Cupertino-based iPhone maker to stop 'hoarding its cash,' and start returning some of it to its large base of stock holders...

AAPL for a second time passes Exxon, GOOG hits new all-time high

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 1, 2013

Look, these things are not the be-all, end-all for business performance, but obviously market capitalization reflects investors' expectations concerning Apple's future performance. The iPhone maker last Friday hit a 52-week low and as a result ceded its top spot as the world's most-valued publicly traded corporation to the oil giant Exxon.

AAPL shares have slowly been recovering since and today has surpassed the oil conglomerate for a second time in after-hours trading. The Cupertino firm now leads Exxon with a $10 billion market cap difference, but is Apple's valuation sustainable in the long run?

Are analysts responsible for AAPL decline?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

So... Exxon passed Apple to reclaim the title of the World's Most Valuable Corporation. But how much did Wall Street's prognosticators have to do with Apple's drop in value following its earnings report earlier this week?

While investors realize the company is facing stiff competition and potentially lower profits, a number of financial observers were way off in the predictions ahead of Wednesday results. Indeed, while Apple reported $54 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, analysts had forecast between $51.7 billion and $65.69 billion.

According to Fortune, some analysts were up to 17 percent wrong, while some well-known Wall Street Apple watchers came within 3 percent of the iPhone maker's final numbers. Partially as a result of such wildly-varying forecasts, Apple is changing the way to releases its revenue guidance...

Al Gore teaches us some nice AAPL stock tricks

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

I also have another headline: Al Gore profits from Apple losses. Regardless of where you stand, the debate over whether Apple's iPhone is facing declining demand has now spread from simply a question of iOS versus Android. It's about Benjamins, who wins and who loses. Facing the 'threat' of Apple share value rebounding when its quarterly sales numbers are released next Wednesday, investors are hoping the company's stock remains low. Among them: former U.S. Vice President and Apple board member Al Gore.

Gore last week exercised options to buy 59,000 shares of Apple stock for only $7.475 per share. Because of the low option price versus the actual stock price of $495.2, he was able to buy Apple stock worth more than $29 million for just $441,000...

Analyst says Apple sold 52 million iPhones last quarter

Cody Lee ∙ January 16, 2013

Apple's quarterly earnings call is coming up next Wednesday, where the company will reveal its iPhone sales and other figures from the holiday quarter. And given its recent stock drop due to iPhone demand concerns, all of Wall Street will be watching.

Essentially, if the Cupertino company wants to stop the bleeding, it needs to report big numbers for last quarter. And according to KGI Securities' well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it will. He thinks Apple sold 52 million iPhones and 23 million iPads...

Apple’s annual shareholders meeting to take place on February 27

Cody Lee ∙ January 16, 2013

Apple notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that it will be holding its annual shareholder meeting on February 27, and boy do they have a lot talk about.

The meeting will be held at Apple's 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, where stock holders (as of January 2, 2013) will be able to attend and vote on a variety of proposed measures...

Analysts cut AAPL target price average to $740

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

All of the concerns voiced about the impending leap off the 'fiscal cliff' and its associated increase in capital gains taxes on stock sales have sent Wall Street into a tizzy. The end result: knocking Apple's target share price down to $740. Nearly a dozen analysts have cut their target price for Apple stock amid talk that the iPhone maker has a dodgy future, what with supply questions hanging over the executives at One Infinity Loop. Despite all the rain clouds, the $740 per share target price reduction is about $225 more than Friday's opening on Wall Street...