Apple Preparing to Offer 'Significant' Dividend for Investors Early Next Year?
Bloomberg reports on comments from money manager Howard Ward claiming that Apple is preparing to begin offering a "significant" dividend to its shareholders early next year.
“We’re going to see a dividend announced for Apple at some point in the first half of 2012,” Ward, a money manager who helps oversee about $36.1 billion for Gamco Investors Inc., said in an interview today with “Street Smart” on Bloomberg Television. “That could easily be a 3 percent dividend-yielding stock or even higher.”
Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, declined to comment.
The basis of Ward's claim is unclear, but Apple CEO Tim Cook has signaled increased willingness to consider alternative uses for Apple's growing cash hoard.
Apple began offering a quarterly dividend to investors in mid-1987, but canceled it at the end of 1995 as the company foundered. With the return of Steve Jobs, the company was eventually able to turn itself around and become one of the world's largest companies, but has so far been unwilling to offer dividends again, opting instead to hold onto its profits for its own uses.
Apple has argued that its significant cash hoard gives it the ability to make major long-term deals for components at favorable terms, as well as putting the company in a position for a major strategic acquisition should the right opportunity surface. But with Apple's cash and investments now topping $80 billion, calls for the company to return some of that money to shareholders have been on the rise. And if Ward's claim is correct, it appears that Apple under Tim Cook may now agree with that sentiment.
Popular Stories
Apple earlier this week announced the discontinuation of the iPod touch, and because it was the last iPod still available for purchase, its sunsetting effectively marks the end of the entire iPod lineup.
To send the iPod on its way, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the most notable iPod releases over the last 21 years.
Original iPod (2001)
Introduced in October...
iOS 16 will include new ways of interacting with the system and some "fresh Apple apps," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said, offering some more detail on what Apple has in store for the upcoming release of iOS and iPadOS set to be announced in a few weeks at WWDC. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman wrote that while iOS 16 is not likely to introduce a major face-lift to...
YouTuber Unbox Therapy has shared a hands-on look at the iPhone 14 Pro Max using what he claims is a one-to-one replica created by third-party case makers with access to detailed schematics and dimensions for Apple's new upcoming flagship smartphone.
As with the iPhone 13 Pro lineup, in 2022, we are expecting a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, but this time the Pro...
Apple today released iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5, the fifth major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were initially released in September 2021. iOS and iPadOS 15.5 come a little over two months after the launch of iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4.
The iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 updates can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in...
It's been over 200 days since Apple debuted its redesigned MacBook Pro lineup. Offered in 14-inch and 16-inch display sizes, the new-look MacBooks wowed Apple fans and creative pros alike with their powerful custom Apple silicon, mini-LED screen, and multiple connectivity options. But there are still some things you can't do with a MacBook Pro. Here are five features some Mac users are still...
Apple has launched a special limited-time offer for iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad trade-in that offers customers additional credit when trading in their only device for a new one.
The offer is being run in several countries including the US, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, India, and France. In the UK, Apple is offering up to £50 of extra trade-in credit...
Earlier this week, well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple plans to release at least one iPhone 15 model with a USB-C port in 2023. Now, in a follow-up tweet, he has claimed that accessories like AirPods, the MagSafe Battery Pack, and the Magic Keyboard/Mouse/Trackpad trio would also switch to USB-C in the "foreseeable future."
Both the iPhone and all of the aforementioned...
Top Rated Comments
Knowing this for sure would be incredibly valuable proprietary information.
I don't see the upside to Apple for for offering a dividend unless employee shareholders are clamoring for it.
"calls for the company to return some of that money to shareholders have been on the rise"
Flat wrong. It actually means that the company has to rely on cash perks to attract shareholders instead of achieving the same goal through market growth and innovation.
Besides, even a one-time distribution of dividends will lead to moral hazard in the sense that investors, from then on, will start factoring that expectation into Apple's stock price as a virtually-mandatory element for buying its shares.
Once more, I hope this is just a stupid speculator's rumor...nothing good can be seen in such a move by Apple.
nev-er.
Apple will be the industry leader for quite some time but if this is true, the culture of Apple is changing. And in the long run, it would be strange if it didn't.
however there are...consequences.