Apple Reports Record March Quarter Results of $13.6B Profit on $58B Revenue, Boosts Dividend and Buybacks

[GuitarDTO]

So, a revenue and profit growth of 50% yoy is not enough? Seriously, for a firm with 200B in revenues! Bet, you're one of those people two years ago who dumped Apple stocks (obviously because it was doomed...) and consequently lost 50% in upside since then; you're repeating EXACTLY the same words people were saying then.

95% of tech companies have done worse than Apple in the last 3 years in all financial metrics that count. Maybe it is time those other companies commit ritual suicide since their "new stuff" and "new products" aren't working so well....

Funny how companies with crap eternal bottom lines like Amazon are not held under the same withering spotlight.

I bought a lot of Apple after it dropped to 390, more than doubled my money and recently sold everything at 129. But go ahead and tell yourself that I "lost 50% upside" : ) Even if it doubles again after I sold, I'm still happy.

You and Rogifan reek of investors who are upset they didn't make a killing off this earnings report with the usual proclamation of "It just doesn't make any sense!", or "Other companies blah blah blah"!. The sum of all investors have clearly factored in all of the growth and upside into the current price, hence the earnings not moving the needle. If you are the "buy and hold" investor you claim to be, then why do you care how the markets are reacting to this earnings release?

 

[69650]

If Apple hadn't done a buyback or dividend, they would be sitting on more than $250 billion in cash now. Do you think that would be a good idea?

Yes I do. They could have set up the Steve Jobs Memorial Fund, a charity run by his wife to donate it all to good causes.

Shareholders have already made enough profit from the share price appreciation.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Steve Jobs never once paid out a dividend and he certainly would never have agreed to share buybacks and I admire him for that.

There's nothing admirable about a company hoarding money it can't/won't use. You literally don't understand what's being talked about.

Yes I do. They could have set up the Steve Jobs Memorial Fund, a charity run by his wife to donate it all to good causes.

Shareholders have already made enough profit from the share price appreciation.

The shareholders OWN the company. Tim Cook works for the shareholders. Every Apple employee works for the shareholders. What don't you get about that? If your position is that shareholders have made "enough" profit then you are free to urge them to sell their appreciated shares and donate the proceeds to charity. Telling Apple they should force every shareholder to set up a memorial fund for Steve Jobs is completely breaching the fiduciary duty of the company's board and management.

 

[TallManNY]

Yes I do. They could have set up the Steve Jobs Memorial Fund, a charity run by his wife to donate it all to good causes.

Shareholders have already made enough profit from the share price appreciation.

Hmm, and it does not occur to you that if Apple or companies in general told shareholders and the market that they were going to take all their profits and donate them to charity that the share price would be highly effected?

To put another way, if Apple announced today that it was going to give away all or huge portions of its cash reserves (and perhaps it was going to do this going forward as it got future profit) it is your belief that Apple's stock would still be trading around $128.

I will explain why stocks have any value. It is because the Company will eventually either pay a dividend or it will be bought, either for cash that will get distributed or shares in another company that will pay a dividend.

 

[mi7chy]

Apple is better for the investor than the consumer. To generate higher profits mean they cut corners on specs and quality. Apple need to use better aircraft quality aluminum, adopt next generation AMOLED, use scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 4, etc.

 

[Keirasplace]

Apple is better for the investor than the consumer. To generate higher profits mean they cut corners on specs and quality. Apple need to use better aircraft quality aluminum, adopt next generation AMOLED, use scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 4, etc.

They already use GG, good grief!! You really talk through your hat. The fact that people keep buying Apple products tells you that people think they're getting good value from them; otherwise they'd be masochists.

 

[69650]

Hmm, and it does not occur to you that if Apple or companies in general told shareholders and the market that they were going to take all their profits and donate them to charity that the share price would be highly effected?

To put another way, if Apple announced today that it was going to give away all or huge portions of its cash reserves (and perhaps it was going to do this going forward as it got future profit) it is your belief that Apple's stock would still be trading around $128.

I will explain why stocks have any value. It is because the Company will eventually either pay a dividend or it will be bought, either for cash that will get distributed or shares in another company that will pay a dividend.

Apple shares appreciated significantly during Steve Jobs management since 1997 when Apple didn't pay a cent in dividends or buybacks. And Steve was never ever going to sell his beloved Apple. How do you explain that?

 

[creediddy]

If you look back on Apple's history in 2007, one product changed their company's entire fortune. A smartphone! They were known as PC company years ago. Amazing!!!

 

[69650]

The shareholders OWN the company. Tim Cook works for the shareholders. Every Apple employee works for the shareholders. What don't you get about that? If your position is that shareholders have made "enough" profit then you are free to urge them to sell their appreciated shares and donate the proceeds to charity. Telling Apple they should force every shareholder to set up a memorial fund for Steve Jobs is completely breaching the fiduciary duty of the company's board and management.

Public companies have absolutely no obligation whatsoever to pay dividends or buyback shares. Steve Jobs never paid a cent in dividends because he didn't have to and he knew the shareholders were already being handsomely rewarded by the share price appreciation.

The current system you prescribe is rotten to the core and morally bankrupt.

Steve was a great leader. Tim Cook is a ****ing wanker.

 

[TallManNY]

Apple shares appreciated significantly during Steve Jobs management since 1997 when Apple didn't pay a cent in dividends or buybacks. And Steve was never ever going to sell his beloved Apple. How do you explain that?

The expectation was that Steve would either eventually relent or he would retire/die. Alternatively it is all a Ponzi scheme in which the current shareholders just plan to get out and sell to a future shareholder before it all collapses. Don't discount the second explanation out of hand. It seems an increasingly plausible explanation to me for some stock prices in the tech industry.

For the record, I think even Steve would have allowed these dividends and stock buybacks if he were alive and still in charge. He loved having control and cash on hand is a great level of control. But the amount of cash is truly silly. And I strongly believe that Apple will have significant revenue growth for many years in the future to come. I don't subscribe to the theory that we have reached "peak iPhone".

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Public companies have absolutely no obligation whatsoever to pay dividends or buyback shares.

The whole reason a share has ANY value whatsoever is the expectation of future dividends or a liquidation. If there is no future cash flow there is no present value. Why would the owners of the business not be entitled to the profits eventually? If Apple wanted to hoard cash mercilessly and give every cent of profits to charity they would be more than welcome to as a private company. But when you go and sell a large portion of your company to other investors you have a fiduciary duty to them.

Steve Jobs never paid a cent in dividends because he didn't have to and he knew the shareholders were already being handsomely rewarded by the share price appreciation.

There is no share price without expectation of some dividends either now or in the distant future. Period. And I disagree, Steve would have eventually paid dividends.

The current system you prescribe is rotten to the core and morally bankrupt.

Say you open a small business - a bakery. You only have money to pay for half of your supplies and expenses. You go ask your friend for the other 50% in exchange for half the equity of the business. He forks over the money because he believes in your vision. Say the bakery is a huge success and makes a ton of money. It's really your opinion that all the profits should be kept in a bank account? Even though you haven't used them for years? You think your friend is selfish for expecting to be paid back at some point? What if you've amassed millions of dollars (which, remember, half of which your friend is entitled to) and you just give it all to charity without consulting him? That's BS and you know it. You are operating from a limited understanding of business and finance and it's abundantly clear that you're content to just sling empty, populist rhetoric rather than attempting to actually understand any counterpoints.

 

[abhishake]

Can we retire the doomed/failed meme yet? It seems the only people saying it are Apple fans. Are you guys trying to get NB4 or something? It's pretty tired. The quarter was great. If you're a fan celebrate if that's your thing. People haven't actually said Apple is doomed, and meant it, in a long time. It's mainly just sarcastic, ironic Apple fans. Why not just get T-Shirts and save everyone the banality?

/rant over

Kick ass quarter, iPad notwithstanding. June quarter should rock just as hard with the watch. <-- Caveat: solve the damn supply constraints... or Apple is doomed.

I was serious. That's how analysts read it.

 

[Dargoth]

Yeah, "employ" as in slave labor and indentured servitude. But if we want to call that eh hem "labor" then great. Super.

I wonder if with the 58 eleventy trillion billion if they could POSSIBLY make some of the stuff here and pay people decent wages and benefits? Oh wait, never mind.

Slave labor? Do you realize how horrendously disgusting that analogy is? Do you really have so little of an idea of what slave labor truly looks like? It isn't indentured servitude either. The thing you don't seem to understand is that nobody is forcing them to work at Apple. Obviously they think it's worthwhile for them or they'd look for employment elsewhere. You're fighting on nobody's side. They don't need your help.

 

[s2mikey]

There's nothing admirable about a company hoarding money it can't/won't use. You literally don't understand what's being talked about.

The shareholders OWN the company. Tim Cook works for the shareholders. Every Apple employee works for the shareholders. What don't you get about that? If your position is that shareholders have made "enough" profit then you are free to urge them to sell their appreciated shares and donate the proceeds to charity. Telling Apple they should force every shareholder to set up a memorial fund for Steve Jobs is completely breaching the fiduciary duty of the company's board and management.

Shareholder, shmareholder. Enough about them. They are the cause of more grief and angst amongst employees of the world everywhere due to their never ending demands for more , more, more! If you or a loved have recently been outsourced, downsized, lost benefits, or had your workload doubled, you can thank a shareholder somewhere. Not to mention the slave labor industry which was created by shareholders. Race to the bottom so a few people can sit pretty and everyone else can earn a bowl of rice a week for their pay. Terrific.

Whatever.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Shareholder, shmareholder. Enough about them.

Enough about the people who OWN THE COMPANY? Yeah, why would they want a say in anything? Please refer to my previous post on the bakery example.

They are the cause of more grief and angst amongst employees of the world everywhere due to their never ending demands for more , more, more! If you or a loved have recently been outsourced, downsized, lost benefits, or had your workload doubled, you can thank a shareholder somewhere. Not to mention the slave labor industry which was created by shareholders. Race to the bottom so a few people can sit pretty and everyone else can earn a bowl of rice a week for their pay. Terrific.

Whatever.

You're beyond being reasoned with. Enjoy.