Apple Issues Statement About Returning Cash to Shareholders

MacRumors · Feb 7, 2013, 02:47 PM

Apple has issued a press release reiterating its commitment to return some of its extremely large cash pile to shareholders, saying that Apple management and the Board of Directors are in "active discussions" about how to return cash to shareholders.

This follows letter sent to Apple shareholders this morning by Greenlight Capital [PDF], a major Apple shareholder, arguing that the company "must examine all of its options to unlock the growing value of its balance sheet".

Apple's statement:

Quote:

By early last year, Apple's cash balance had built to a point beyond what we needed to run our business and maintain flexibility to take advantage of strategic opportunities, so we announced a plan to return $45 billion to shareholders over three years. As of next week we will have executed $10 billion of that plan.

We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone.

Apple's management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders. As part of our review, we will thoroughly evaluate Greenlight Capital's current proposal to issue some form of preferred stock. We welcome Greenlight's views and the views of all of our shareholders.

Apple's stock price rose sharply in the minutes following the release.

Article Link: Apple Issues Statement About Returning Cash to Shareholders

portishead · Feb 7, 2013, 02:49 PM

Randy Moss would approve of the Straight Cash Homey.

blueroom · Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM

In other news, BlackBerry...

iomar · Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM

What about their loyal customers?

voyagerd · Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM

Trying to decide if I should buy some more AAPL.

macnerd93 · Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM

The timing is perfect. They are giving the money back because they have "Too" much money in cash reserves. Meanwhile, Dell is going private.

Michael Dell - "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders"

Backfire

pixelpro · Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM

Did anyone say "PR Department opening up!"

ogee · Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM

How about giving the staff, including retail, a bonus. We never get bonuses, and in my store all we were got for christmas was a small bag of peanuts!

ChrisTX · Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM

Apple sits on SO MUCH money. Can they possibly ever spend it all?

Yvan256 · Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM

Anything that can shield Apple from the crazy mood of the stock market is a good thing. Their value keeps going up and down because of a few insane people who keep writing stupid rumors and predicting out-of-this-world profits based on wishful thinking.

Val-kyrie · Feb 7, 2013, 02:53 PM

Following in the footsteps of Dell....

I wonder if Apple is also trying to distance itself from the perceived risk of increasing volatility in stock prices?

Evangelion · Feb 7, 2013, 02:54 PM

Is it really "giving money back to shareholders", since that money didn't come from the shareholders, but from the people who bought their products? When investor buys a share in a company, the money does not go to the company in question, but to the investor he bought the share from. Unless he took part in the IPO that is.

ArtOfWarfare · Feb 7, 2013, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ogee

How about giving the staff, including retail, a bonus. We never get bonuses, and in my store all we were got for christmas was a small bag of peanuts!

Is that a literal bag of peanuts?

4JNA · Feb 7, 2013, 02:55 PM

hahaha... hey, Einhorn, next time RTFA of Incorporation before sueing. dumbass.

smoledman · Feb 7, 2013, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yvan256

Anything that can shield Apple from the crazy mood of the stock market is a good thing. Their value keeps going up and down because of a few insane people who keep writing stupid rumors and predicting out-of-this-world profits based on wishful thinking.

Explain to me why you care.

ncaissie · Feb 7, 2013, 02:57 PM

@Apple

Dump it in R&D and build me a jetpack!

TEG · Feb 7, 2013, 02:57 PM

They could indirectly give the money back to the shareholders by buying back stock. Less available stock usually raises the price, giving people value, at least on paper.

TEG

iMikeT · Feb 7, 2013, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4JNA

hahaha... hey, Einhorn, next time RTFA of Incorporation before sueing. dumbass.

I'm not liking Einhorn's involvement in this. I just hope guys like this don't Bain Apple.

Squilly · Feb 7, 2013, 02:58 PM

I didn't see that coming....
On another note...
"We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone. "
That's a lot of $$$$.

spiderman0616 · Feb 7, 2013, 02:59 PM

I have stopped paying attention to the stock because it seems like any good news about Apple makes the stock go down, but can someone explain to me why this statement made it shoot up 10 points? It's not like people didn't already know about this.

phillipduran · Feb 7, 2013, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iomar

What about their loyal customers?

Their loyal customers buy stock.

iMikeT · Feb 7, 2013, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderman0616

I have stopped paying attention to the stock because it seems like any good news about Apple makes the stock go down, but can someone explain to me why this statement made it shoot up 10 points? It's not like people didn't already know about this.

It's to give even more money back so investors. Possibly in higher dividend yields or a buyback. So people get in on it and rocket the stock price.

charlieegan3 · Feb 7, 2013, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Val-kyrie

Following in the footsteps of Dell....

I wonder if Apple is also trying to distance itself from the perceived risk of increasing volatility in stock prices?

Quote:

Originally Posted by macnerd93

The timing is perfect. They are giving the money back because they have "Too" much money in cash reserves. Meanwhile, Dell is going private.

Michael Dell - "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders"

Backfire

Both beat me to a Dell comment - well played/bravo.

charlituna · Feb 7, 2013, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iomar

What about their loyal customers?

You get great tech that is so awesome that you buy more. If you want money perhaps you should use that tech for something profitable

applegigs · Feb 7, 2013, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voyagerd

Trying to decide if I should buy some more AAPL.

Did that

now is the time !

Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM	#3
blueroom macrumors 601 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Toronto, Canada	In other news, BlackBerry... __________________ My iOS devices are not jailbroken. Bill My Blog
	2

Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM	#4
iomar macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Los Angeles, CA	What about their loyal customers? __________________ MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Due / 3 GB Memory Mac OS X Version 10.5.7 iPhone 3Gs, 32 GB
	1

Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM	#5
voyagerd macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Folsom, CA	Trying to decide if I should buy some more AAPL. __________________ 15" MacBook Pro / 2.6GHz C2D / 4GB / 750GB SSHD / 8600M GT SR-2 Hackintosh / Dual Intel® Xeon® X5680@4.3GHz / 48GB / 480GB Intel 520 SSD / 2x GeForce GTX 480 SLI 32GB iPhone 4S, 120GB iPod Classic
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 02:50 PM	#6
macnerd93 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: United kingdom	The timing is perfect. They are giving the money back because they have "Too" much money in cash reserves. Meanwhile, Dell is going private. Michael Dell - "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders" Backfire __________________ 21.5'' iMac, Power Mac G5 Dual, Apple Studio Display, MacBook Pro, MacBook, Mac minis x2, eMac, Power Mac G4 Graphite, Power Mac G4 QS, iPod 4th Gen Click Wheel, iPad 2, iPhone 4S,
	18

Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM	#9
ChrisTX macrumors 68000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Texas	Apple sits on SO MUCH money. Can they possibly ever spend it all? __________________ Thanks Steve for all of the awesome technology! Proud owner of an early 2011 15" MacBook Pro, First gen 15" MacBook Pro, iPad 3, Apple TV, Galaxy SIII, and numerous iPods.
	2

Feb 7, 2013, 02:49 PM	#2
portishead macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: los angeles	Randy Moss would approve of the Straight Cash Homey.
	9

Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM	#7
pixelpro macrumors member Join Date: Jun 2010	Did anyone say "PR Department opening up!"
	7

Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM	#8
ogee macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Earth.	How about giving the staff, including retail, a bonus. We never get bonuses, and in my store all we were got for christmas was a small bag of peanuts!
	8

Feb 7, 2013, 02:52 PM	#10
Yvan256 macrumors 601 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada	Anything that can shield Apple from the crazy mood of the stock market is a good thing. Their value keeps going up and down because of a few insane people who keep writing stupid rumors and predicting out-of-this-world profits based on wishful thinking. __________________ The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time. -Tom Cargill, Bell Labs.
	18

Feb 7, 2013, 02:53 PM	#11
Val-kyrie macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: In the digital void.	Following in the footsteps of Dell.... I wonder if Apple is also trying to distance itself from the perceived risk of increasing volatility in stock prices? __________________ No Digital TV Signal? --Call 800-CALL-FCC or 800-TELL-FCC --They'll tell you they know.
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 02:54 PM	#12
Evangelion macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jan 2005	Is it really "giving money back to shareholders", since that money didn't come from the shareholders, but from the people who bought their products? When investor buys a share in a company, the money does not go to the company in question, but to the investor he bought the share from. Unless he took part in the IPO that is. __________________ "One way or another, you're gone" Tea Party protester to Gaby Giffords
	6

Feb 7, 2013, 02:55 PM	#14
4JNA macrumors 65816 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: looking for trash files	Thanks for the free stock Bump activist dude. hahaha... hey, Einhorn, next time RTFA of Incorporation before sueing. dumbass. __________________ KATE: RISC architecture is gonna change everything. DADE: Yeah. RISC is good. Try Folding, all the cool kids are doing it...
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 02:57 PM	#16
ncaissie macrumors 6502a Join Date: Dec 2011	@Apple Dump it in R&D and build me a jetpack! __________________ 2011 MacBook Pro iPod touch 2G iFone 5! iPad 2 ATV 2G
	6

Feb 7, 2013, 02:57 PM	#17
TEG macrumors 603 Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Langley, Washington	They could indirectly give the money back to the shareholders by buying back stock. Less available stock usually raises the price, giving people value, at least on paper. TEG __________________ Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation, - Steve Jobs The Tegian Zone-Glass Onion Radio
	1

Feb 7, 2013, 02:58 PM	#19
Squilly In Time-Out Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: PA	I didn't see that coming.... On another note... "We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone. " That's a lot of $$$$.
	0

Feb 7, 2013, 02:59 PM	#20
spiderman0616 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2010	I have stopped paying attention to the stock because it seems like any good news about Apple makes the stock go down, but can someone explain to me why this statement made it shoot up 10 points? It's not like people didn't already know about this. __________________ iPhone 5 16 GB black, iPhone 5 16 GB white, 3rd Gen iPad Black 32GB, 16 GB iPad Mini White, Airport Extreme, iPod Classic 120 GB, Macbook, 3rd Gen Apple TV, 2012 Mac Mini
	1

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode