Apple Repurchases $14 Billion in Shares in 2 Weeks, Company Open to Large Acquisitions

[MacRumors]

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.

Article Link: Apple Repurchases $14 Billion in Shares in 2 Weeks, Company Open to Large Acquisitions

 

[steve333]

Quicklogic would be a good fit
QUIK

 

[jav6454]

Gobble up BB and be done with it. They have a vast patent portfolio and their email expertise could do no harm to Apple; moreover, their current infrastructure in terms of messaging services can vastly help Apple's iMessage service.

 

[Frisco]

No!

What it means is Apple's Executives are looking not to lose anymore and are getting ready to jump ship on their Golden Parachutes.

 

[Galagor]

Sad to say this, but I think Apple ought to be at around $500 per share.

 

[taptic]

They plannin' on goin' somewhere?

 

[LastQuadrant]

Oracle? That would be an interesting purchase.

 

[garylapointe]

Insane...

That's a staggering amount of ca$h...

Gary

 

[RedOrchestra]

Carl will be incredibly happy on this buy-back news - I'm sure he's already conveyed that to Tim, all the while singing MORE, MORE, MORE.

 

[rmatthewware]

If Carl Icahn really wants to cash in on Apple, he'd push the government to allow Apple and others to repatriate foreign earnings.

 

[Yelmurc]

One of the problems with Apple is talent acquisition. I've always thought it would be a interesting idea if Apple bought or started their own computer science training program. Make it extremely difficult to weed out anyone not serious and promise either a Job or at least a interview at Apple once you've completed the degree. That way they can make sure they have a flow of people coming in that have the knowledge Apple wants them to have. The only problem would be is if after being trained by Apple they go and work for Google.

 

[Rogifan]

Sad to say this, but I think Apple's price right now is what it ought to be worth.

Based on what metric?

 

[Galagor]

Based on what metric?

What its market cap would be assuming no overly optimistic or pessimistic investors. That is, I expect that it won't go up except by inflation of the US dollar unless Apple changes something for the better. Corrected my post because I didn't realize AAPL had gone up so much since the dump.

Now that they've bought back shares, they'd better spend some money on actual growth.

 

[minimo3]

What its market cap would be assuming no overly optimistic or pessimistic investors. That is, I expect that it won't go up except by inflation of the US dollar unless Apple changes something for the better. Corrected my post because I didn't realize AAPL had gone up so much since the dump.

Now that they've bought back shares, they'd better spend some money on actual growth.

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.

 

[Naaaaak]

$14 billion to buy-back stock because it dipped 8%.

What an incredible waste of money.

What else could be accomplished for $14 billion?

 

[HiRez]

$14 billion to buy-back stock because it dipped 8%.

What an incredible waste of money.

What else could be accomplished for $14 billion?

Unless you bought AAPL at its absolute peak of ~$700, if you bought AAPL in the last 5+ years, chances are very good you made money on it. I've personally bought about 20 lots of AAPL at different periods over that time and have not lost money on a single share (if I sold it all today). All have gained and most have had massive gains. And I assume Apple has a better view of what their future holds like than any investor or analyst does.

Plus, it's not like they spent every last penny on this, if they still wanted to purchase something, even for billions, they could easily accomplish it, it is not going to restrict them in any way.

 

[Rogifan]

$14 billion to buy-back stock because it dipped 8%.

What an incredible waste of money.

What else could be accomplished for $14 billion?

No a waste of money is spending $3B on a thermostat.

 

[Galagor]

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.

No, they're valuing Apple at 457 billion dollars. Yes, they're expecting slow growth.

 

[Santabean2000]

“We’ve looked at big companies. We don’t have a predisposition not to buy big companies. The money is also not burning a hole in our pocket where we say, ‘let’s make a list of 10 and pick the best one,’” said Mr. Cook. “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.”

A big acquisition on the horizon, me thinks...

Now, what will they buy..?

<enter speculation here>

 

[hipnetic]

As a stockholder (not many shares) I think the buyback makes sense and hope it causes a bump in the share prices.

Not so sure about the talk about acquiring big companies, but I guess it might depend on the company. For example, buying Nest for $3B seems like *WAY* too much money for an established hardware/software company that could develop a viable competitor in-house for far less. Buying someone like DirecTV, Comcast, Netflix might be more interesting, though I'd still be doubtful that it would be worth the kind of money it would cost.

Would there be much to gain from them buying one of the big Chinese manufacturers that build their products? Maybe a RAM, SSD, or display company?

 

[mrongey]

Wild speculation here based on coincidence and no logical reason, but looking to buy all or part of Sony's PC lineup, perhaps?

 

[HiRez]

Would there be much to gain from them buying one of the big Chinese manufacturers that build their products? Maybe a RAM, SSD, or display company?

I'd like to see them start designing their own displays, if not manufacturing them. Right now they are perpetually reliant on Samsung and don't really have ultimate control. Since display technology is an absolutely critical component of everything they make (not to mention usually the most expensive component), I'd love to see them control display tech completely. Yes, it would take time and resources, but I don't see why it couldn't be done, they have basically done similar things with mobile CPUs.

If they were going to make a huge purchase, buy Verizon. Sell off all the crap they don't need (the stores, buildings, racing teams, stadiums, etc.), then control the whole transmission chain to mobile devices and living rooms. And obviously, sell everyone using Apple products (or even people not using Apple products) wireless contracts, which would probably be both cheaper and higher quality than they currently are.

 

[Michael Scrip]

I'd like to see them start designing their own displays, if not manufacturing them. Right now they are perpetually reliant on Samsung and don't really have ultimate control. Since display technology is an absolutely critical component of everything they make (not to mention usually the most expensive component), I'd love to see them control display tech completely. Yes, it would take time and resources, but I don't see why it couldn't be done, they have basically done similar things with mobile CPUs.

Didn't Apple invest $5 billion into Sharp for displays? What ever happened with that?

And I think Apple already designs their own displays... they're certainly not using off-the-shelf parts.

If they were going to make a huge purchase, buy Verizon. Sell off all the crap they don't need (the stores, buildings, racing teams, stadiums, etc.), then control the whole transmission chain to mobile devices and living rooms. And obviously, sell everyone using Apple products (or even people not using Apple products) wireless contracts, which would probably be both cheaper and higher quality than they currently are.

Apple buying Verizon would be great for America (I guess)

But what about the other 100 countries that Apple sells the iPhone in?

 

[flux73]

Sad to say this, but I think Apple ought to be at around $500 per share.

Based on...?

Edit: Nm, saw someone else asking you the same thing. The valuation of Apple is insanely low. Just because Apple has kept their future plans under wrap, people conclude they have no plans. That is how they're valued right now - a company with NO future. Considering their history, this is a ridiculous conclusion. I bought more at $500 and will buy even more if it goes under $500 again. And since Apple knows more about its future plans than anyone else, I will conclude that the fact they were willing to buy $14 Billion worth of shares around $500 means that they're pretty confident in the future plans as well.

 

[MarioG]

Wall Street seems to like the move, judging from the premarket