Shortsighted greed.
As if the opinions of a hedge-fund manager aren't biased against long term growth and stability... especially when the guy is in the business of shorts. It's disappointing to see abhorrent greed -- guys like this epitomize the current banker paradigm -- maximize shareholder profits at all costs, especially at first sign of trouble.
While Apple does have a nice war chest right now, the future is incredibly uncertain and the tech world is volatile. They face unprecedented challenges -- they either need to create new markets or uncharacteristically support the existing ones, which we all know they're slowly losing ground in. Staying on top of either requires extensive capital.
The best way to get to the top is to buy good ideas, though increasing R&D certainly helps. I'd like to see more engineering staff for hardware, more software-side employees focusing on drivers, and most importantly, a much larger and comprehensive QA department. Those of course come with a recurring price tag, which must be accounted for in long term stability.
There's also an issue of overseas cash -- if Apple were to pay out more dividends they'd have to repatriate cash and pay (double) taxes.
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What about their unloyal shareholders (me)?
Anyone who says that holding AAPL long-term is the best is just mad because he didn't sell at 700
I'd reckon that the stock will return. Investors are stupid and fickle. Apple is still turning a hefty profit and AAPL is undervalued. If (when) they break into a new market (ala TV) the stock will rebound hard.