You obviously don't work in the financial industry, so don't be pedantic.
The case of Dell is completely different, and if you don't know why, then read, study, and don't patronise people on the net. Nullum set...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Carl Icahn Pushed for $150 Billion Stock Buyback at Dinner with Apple CEO Tim Cook [Update: Has $2 Billion Invested]
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You obviously don't work in the financial industry, so don't be pedantic.
The case of Dell is completely different, and if you don't know why, then read, study, and don't patronise people on the net. Nullum set...
We can debate whether a buyback is the best use of $150 billion, but it isn't doing much for the company right now sitting in short-term investments yielding about 0.1%. Apple shouldn't give up all of its cash pile as it would make it vulnerable to a downturn (for instance, if the iPhone market eventually fades as devices become commoditized). However, it doesn't need $150 billion to weather another crisis.
A buyback is better than Apple going out and overpaying for a huge acquisition that steers the company in the wrong direction (e.g. AOL Time Warner). I think they probably need about $10-15 billion for that (e.g. they could snap up BlackBerry intellectual property, or make some other strategic purchases), particularly given that most of their acquisitions are in the $200 million - $1 billion range.
----------
It's native English. Carl Icahn was the one who said he "pushed" Apple to initiate a large buyback. It's a colloquial term for "strongly recommended" or "lobbied."
Nothing about that idea "worked," but it did raise questions about Apple's management.
All stockholders have a say. That's why they are called stockholders.
I agree. I got slaughtered on that AOL move. BB just got bought by a Canadian insurance company, so it's probably going to be too expensive for the foreseeable future. I do think a tasty little buyback would be nice.
Any share buyback by a technology company that should be investing in R&D and supply chain is stupid. That $60 Billion should be spent on displays, flash, startups, advertising, heck, even subsidizing fabs for chipmaking.
Placating shareholders and not doing your best to make the best is a bozo thing to do. And we all know what Steve thought about bozos.
Placating shareholders and not doing your best to make the best is a bozo thing to do. And we all know what Steve thought about bozos.
Apple is sitting on a mountain of cash. They are investing in R&D and supply chain. It would be foolish to spend it ALL on what you're suggesting. A company still has responsibilities to its shareholders and it's very appropriate, in my opinion, for it to consider dividends and buybacks AFTER things like R&D and supply chain are already well funded.
Apple is already doing this... their Capex is outrageously upwards of $10B/yr - most going to M&E.
just being argumentative here... not placating shareholders will get you fired... And when you are fired, it's pretty hard to make best
Tim is at least listening to this large shareholders, doesn't meant he will act..
There's a reason Steve Jobs would never have allowed a share buyback like this. Apple has better things to do with their cash than make rich people like Icahn even richer.
I would rather see the shares appreciate as Apple's revenues grow with new product launches than see them waste the cash on a short term fix like this. Genuine shareholders are in it for the long haul not a quick buck like Icahn.
Please Tim just tell him to **** off.
I would rather see the shares appreciate as Apple's revenues grow with new product launches than see them waste the cash on a short term fix like this. Genuine shareholders are in it for the long haul not a quick buck like Icahn.
Please Tim just tell him to **** off.
And what better way to help the stock appreciate by conducting stock buyback, especially when it can be argued the stock is undervalued?
Ichan: I have all this stock, so I make the rules now!
Cook: You're adorable.
I, like many others, felt the obvious fears when news of these talks started appearing. But Cook has proven he's no fool, so I trust him not to sell Apple up a creek for a quick buck. Ichan's obviously empty-sounding optimism and abuse of the word "we" in his tweet tells me dinner didn't go according to plan. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting!
Cook: You're adorable.
I, like many others, felt the obvious fears when news of these talks started appearing. But Cook has proven he's no fool, so I trust him not to sell Apple up a creek for a quick buck. Ichan's obviously empty-sounding optimism and abuse of the word "we" in his tweet tells me dinner didn't go according to plan. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting!
Not to argue with your intent, but a public corporation can be closely held-- that is, with just a few shareholders able to exert majority control. But that isn't what is happening here.
Cook's new pain in the a-s-s... i'm pretty sure that he receives 1000 messages and missed calls from icahn every day
Invest in more R&D to develop new products
Expand their software teams to develop more software products
Open more Apple Stores - lots of countries still don't have any
Make some major acquisitions to increase the bottom line
Buy more content to put on the AppleTV
Open a charitable foundation
etc, etc
Share buyback is a quick fix. The shares go up, Icahn sells up and takes a nice fat profit, then the shares start to go back down again.
If they invest that money to grow the business and increase profits the shares will naturally go up anyway and continue to stay there if business keeps rolling in.
Apple is not utilizing its mountain of cash. The owners of the company can use it more productively. The shareholders will become wealthier via a stock buyback than if Apple sits on the cash. That's the point of stock, isn't it?
As much as I have a distaste for Carl Icahn, I don't see how a share buyback can be spun into a bad thing for the company or the public investors. I would think anyone long on Apple thinks the company is undervalued, hence a buyback is at least potentially appropriate.
It wouldn't benefit icahn personally more so than the rest of the shareholders (except in proportion, as he owns quite a bit more of it.)
Sure you could argue that $150B is too large, which might leave Apple with too little flexibility with their cash on hand for their purposes, but we're armchair CFOing here.
Dan
It wouldn't benefit icahn personally more so than the rest of the shareholders (except in proportion, as he owns quite a bit more of it.)
Sure you could argue that $150B is too large, which might leave Apple with too little flexibility with their cash on hand for their purposes, but we're armchair CFOing here.
Dan
Um, duh. Some of those things will make Apple more money. Some are just going to be a waste of money. But don't you think Apple is already making every investment they have been able to identify as likely to be profitable? What do you imagine they do every day in a company like Apple?
Except that last one. Why should Apple open a charity, rather than giving it to their stockholders to make their own choices?