Apple Repurchases $14 Billion in Shares in 2 Weeks, Company Open to Large Acquisitions
Apple has repurchased $14 billion of its own stock in the two weeks following its first quarter earnings call on January 27th, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal spoke to Apple CEO Tim Cook who said that Apple wanted to be "aggressive" and "opportunistic" with its repurchases after Apple's share price dropped 8 percent the day after the results were reported.
With the latest purchases, Mr. Cook said Apple had bought back more than $40 billion of its shares over the past 12 months, which Mr. Cook said was a record for any company over a similar span.
"It means that we are betting on Apple. It means that we are really confident on what we are doing and what we plan to do," said Mr. Cook, speaking in a conference room at the company's corporate headquarters here. "We're not just saying that. We're showing that with our actions."
He went on to say that the company would share "updates" to its buyback program in March or April, roughly a year after it more than doubled its capital return program to $100 billion. Apple has bought back $40 billion in shares over the past 12 months.
Cook said that though Apple has not made any large acquisitions, it is open to making a big purchase if it made financial sense: "We have no problem spending ten figures for the right company, for the right fit that's in the best interest of Apple in the long-term. None. Zero."
As of its earnings call last month, Apple had $158.8 billion in cash, with $34.4 billion located in the United States. It's likely that the repurchase was done entirely with Apple's domestic cash.
Popular Stories
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how NameDrop functions. As noted by The Washington...
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Apple is discontinuing in-house modem development after several unsuccessful attempts to perfect its own custom 5G modem chip, according to unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources related to Apple's 5G modem departments claim that the company's attempts to develop its own modem have...
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...
Top Rated Comments
No a waste of money is spending $3B on a thermostat.
Based on current P/E the market expects Apple to grow slower than Walmart, Target and Macys. Basically they're valuing Apple about the same as Krogers supermarket.
Why would any board actually listen to the completely irrational stock market?
Most messages on here sound as if they're written by kids who just won the lottery... we should buy this! We should buy that! Why? Buying a large competitor hardly ever works. It'll take years before cultures match. If the bought company actually has products out there, people will expect them to become Apple-like products. They won't be. If they strip away all products and only want the IP, people will complain that Apple is just a patent buyer. If they venture out into completely new markets, they'll only run the risk of watering down their brand and turning into a conglomerate - which the stock market doesn't like either.
Look at how well Sony is doing. They did all the things everyone seems to recommend. Venture into new markets - from electronics to computers, to movies, to music - launch new product lines like crazy, jump on many bandwagons and try to launch a new 'standard' every few years or so. They haven't made a profit in 10 years. Is that what you would like Apple to become?
Really, I don't see why Cook would actually pay any attention to what the stock market thinks it wants. As soon as Apple launches another product that people stand in line for, they'll love Apple again. The stock price will soar. Apple will again be on everybody's lips. The whole thing is that fickle. I hope Tim Cook is as stubborn as Steve Jobs was. Keep cool and keep going.
What an incredible waste of money.
What else could be accomplished for $14 billion?
Based on what metric?