aapl605
Apple's share price today closed above $600 for the first time, hitting new highs after hours as well. It's been a busy day for Apple shareholders, with the pre-trading announcement that the company will be initiating a strong quarterly dividend and has authorized $10 billion share buyback program.

After the final bell, Apple announced that the company moved more than 3 million new iPads in the first four days of eligibility, making the new iPad the fastest selling tablet in the world.

AAPL closed at $601.10, an all-time high, and nearly reached $605 in after hours trading. Apple should report earnings for the first calendar quarter in late-April, after reporting record earnings and sales for the holiday quarter.

Top Rated Comments

dejo Avatar
176 months ago
AAPL stock was up 2.65% the same day they announced a $2.65 dividend. Ooh, freaky!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cvaldes Avatar
176 months ago
You still don't understand cash flow, do you?

Look, after everything they did, Apple added about $38 billion in cash to its hoard last year.

Let's say that Apple's profits remains the same over the next three years (unlikely) and they use $15 billion each year for the dividend/share buyback program. They would still be adding $23 billion each year. Today's $98B hoard would end up being over $165B in March 2015, even after the $45B program ended.

Also, Apple is likely buying components with foreign cash, not U.S. domestic cash. Remember that despite all of Apple's strategic component pre-purchases, they are still growing cash.

You need to understand that repatriating cash back to the USA is particularly expensive tax-wise.

Remember that the share buyback program is there to prevent share dilution from RSUs. In the next few years, some senior Apple executives are going to see their option incentives become available to exercise. If Apple doesn't buy back shares, they would have to issue new ones, which would dilute the value of the existing shares. Apple grants options to many employees for excellent performance, etc. (they're called the "golden handcuffs" for good reason), but those shares have to come from somewhere. Many senior management team members were granted options as an incentive for them to stay with the company, especially after Steve died. Basically, Apple promised these execs a pile of money in the future without saying where it was going to come from. Now they said "we going to use some of our cash now and set it aside for when that day comes."
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eatsleepdrivesc Avatar
176 months ago
Go Apple! Thats a lot of new IPads!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cvaldes Avatar
176 months ago
The dividend allows AAPL to be included in a certain class of investments that require dividend payouts like income mutual funds. This will probably decrease decrease trade volatility in the long run.

Note that the dividend payout is tiny and really doesn't stop AAPL from being a growth stock.

The $40B dividend and share buyback program (over three years) is less than the cash flow projections, so Apple would end with even more cash anyhow since they are spending cash slower than they are accumulating it.

Even by purchasing real estate, developing new facilities, making strategic component purchases, acquiring companies, Apple still isn't spending as much as it makes.

They probably looked at this several times and decided that a hundred billion dollars in the piggy bank was enough for them to operate their business effectively plus provide a safety net for bad times.

As an AAPL investor, I'm fine with a few dividends, but that's not what I was hoping for when I bought these shares. I never expected AAPL to be an income stock.

It's not like Apple is giving up capital growth by providing equity income. There's still plenty of growth potential in Apple.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wild-Bill Avatar
176 months ago
Oops. Wrong thread
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SuperCachetes Avatar
176 months ago
Here's a quote from a poster in another forum. I agree with the point their making.

The poster you are quoting clearly does not understand where Apple's cash comes from and that it isn't static going forward. :rolleyes:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...