Apple To Launch Largest Stock Repurchasing Plan In History

An anonymous reader writes "In conjunction with its earnings report for the second quarter of 2013, Apple issued a press release announcing some major plans for its ever growing stockpile of cash. It is increasing its quarterly dividend payout to investors by 15%. What's more, the company will spend $60 billion in stock repurchases, making it in Apple's words, 'the largest single share repurchase authorization in history.'"

Re:Dumbest idea, ever

[proverbialcow]

Agreed. Repurchasing and boosting the dividend when the stock traded above $700 might have been a good idea; doing so when it's hovering around $400 with a PEG ratio of 47% is a good idea. Buying back your own stock at a discount to what it's worth, while simultaneously returning cash to shareholders and appeasing a huge PITA activist investor? That's smart.

Financing the buyback with debt is a tiny bit worrisome, but Apple's probably just taking advantage of the low interest rates their high credit rating and hoard of cash afford them.

Re:Why?

[Tough Love]

If a stock rises as the dividend date gets closer, purely because of the dividend then those new buyers are just gullible, and the everybody who failed to value the company accurately is just stupid. Proof: if we could rely on a stock price increasing just before the dividend then we would bid up the price right now, well before the dividend. And so the stock would not rise in advance of the dividend because it was already fully valued. See?

It is a mystery to me why somebody with mod points would feel offended by having basic financial facts explained to them.

Re:Dumbest idea, ever

[atheistmonk]

I have small hands and my Galaxy S2 is very easy to use one handed. I must be doing something wrong to be able to use the phone that is the wrong width for the human hand so easily.

Re:They have lots of new ideas, some still from Jo

[wavedeform]

It depends upon what you mean with the word "created." They certainly changed the face of computing, mobile music players, smart phones, and tablets. All of these categories existed before Apple got into the market, but once Apple decides on an approach, other companies seem to try and do things in a similar way.

Re:This is worse than Yahoo messages

[wavedeform]

Too true. Here is Apple, following Warren Buffet's advice, [businessinsider.com] and the Slashdot crowd dumps on them for not knowing what to do with their money. Slashdot isn't what it used to be, and it never was.

Re:They have lots of new ideas, some still from Jo

[Samantha Wright]

Incorrect! Who do you think sold them BASIC for the Apple II?

...I'm kidding; they had their own.

Until 1979.

When Microsoft sold them a better one.

You have a better term

[SuperKendall]

they really did break their respective markets wide open.

Kudos for coming up with a much more accurate way of phrasing this than I did - "Created" really was a wrong term compared with "elevated" or "break wide open" as you said.

Basically they expanded the market greatly for a number of different product categories, and not just hardware - iTunes and online music counts as well, it was really Apple that made that a consumer market (against the will of the music industry).

Re:Dumbest idea, ever

[White Flame]

2. The iPhone is the right width for the human hand. Any larger and you need two hands to use it. It's a phone, not a tablet.

Japanese gamers complained that the Playstation controller is too big. American gamers complained it's too small. What's this "the human hand" business about?