“As of its latest earnings release on January 24, Apple now has a total of $103 in cash… That’s per share,” Richard Bloch writes for Seeking Alpha. “The total amount – including cash, short-term investments, and long-term marketable securities – now adds up to just under $100 billion.”
“That’s a lot of cash, but right now it’s all locked up in the shares,” Bloch writes. “It’s there, of course, but shareholders are starting to get a bit frustrated as to how the money will be used and whether it might be best to return some to shareholders.”
Apple “is worth twice as much today as it was two years ago and four times what it was worth three years ago,” Bloch writes. “And that’s probably the best news of all for Apple shareholders.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It seems fairly obvious that Steve Jobs had and Apple continues to have a plan for that cash and, as with all things, they just won’t reveal it until they’re ready.
When Apple buys Microsoft and shuts it down, everybody will finally understand. 😉
Technically speaking, wouldn’t Apple only have to buy 51% of MSFT? That day is rapidly approaching…
Actually, around 35% would be enough to acquire de facto control.
But why bother.
I’m hoping that they use that money to build out their own fiber network… wouldn’t that be cool.
Yes it would be nice. I’d also like to see a nationwide 802.11ac network exclusive to Apple devices. Anything to give Apple an exclusive edge that the competitors can’t clone very easily.
Or skip wires and go to satellites. WiSky. I could get drunk on just the thought.
Why should they bother to install fiber networks when Internet companies are already starting installing FTTH and they can have all benefits without any cost, maintenance and the power to switch to another provider if things go wrong and even blame them…
Even thought, I can still see an interest to own the end-to-end from the devices to their cloud services now…
i wonder how much of that is stored abroad waiting for a repatriation Tax Holiday. From a shareholder perspective, that’s great, but from a US economy, really not a good idea.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3593
“now adds up to just under $100 billion.”
Added up to that as of December 31.
AAPL’s cash hoard has now increased beyond that, that’s a foregone conclusion.
Too bad this isn’t in the old days when investors had paper shares…Apple would be legal tender!
Apple now at approx. 420 Billion !!!
Any shareholder can give themselves a “dividend” of any desired size, at a time of their own choosing. Just sell some shares… If those sold shares have been owned for more than one year, any profit (capital gain) is taxed at a lower rate. A distribution as an actual “dividend” is generally taxed higher as regular income, 100% of it.
I’d rather let Apple handle the “cash” and, when I need the money, I’ll sell some shares to get precisely what I need precisely when I need it (and pay lower income tax). Tomorrow might be a good day to “realize” some some paper profits… 🙂
Isn’t that assuming that paying a dividend would cause the share price to go down? In Apples case wouldn’t a regular dividend create more interest in the stock and drive the price up?
AAPL’s price IS higher because of all that cash. It’s not a dollar-for-dollar consideration, but it is certainly a consideration. Microsoft has been paying a “regular dividend” for years, and it’s share price has been flat for the past decade.
I’d rather have that cash as part of the stock price, not subject to taxes until I (not Apple) decide to sell some shares, and then only the profit is taxed as a long term capital gain. 100% of a dividend is taxed as regular income.
True but the Microsoft growth story has long been over .Not the case with Apple. I think a dividend from Apple would cause it to trade at a higher PE ratio.
I agree! While I would not turn down a dividend, the only people pining for them are the short-term minded asset managers and helplessly greedy hedge fund managers. I am perfectly happy to keep that cash working for me safe and secure in my Bank of Apple shares 🙂
With a P/E prob. going under 10, AAPL has the valuation of a utility, but does not pay dividends. How bout cap that cash pile at 50 billion.
This shareholder is not frustrated in the least.
Ditto!
I wish Apple would buy spectrum, create their own nationwide mobile network and show the world that “dumb pipes” for the wireless carriers is the future.
Think about this… On March 20, 2009, AAPL’s price was $102 per share. Less than three years later, Apple’s “cash” is more than the value of the entire company on March 20, 2009.
I’m a decade-long stockholder, and if this is frustration, I’ll take all they can dish out.
🙂
With their cash they could buy every kid in school an iPad and still have over half their cash remaining – think what that would do to the US education system? That would be cool
Obviously you didn’t listen to Steve Jobs about the state of the US school system. Technology is not the answer, the problem is the apathetic government/union approach and the lack of excellence. Mediocrity and Microsoft rule the skule.
A wireless global gigabit network. Please please please.
Not that they’d want it, but Apple now has enough cash to buy Libya.
Libya is sitting on a huge horde as well=black gold!
Wouldn’t it be better for Apple to buy it’s own tax haven rather than repatriate the offshore cash?
I remember back in the healing early iPod days of Apple, when Steve Jobs set a goal of returning Apple to being a company with $10 billion in annual revenues. If they get that cash up to $200 billion, they can make $10 billion in annual income from the interest alone. That would guarantee the company perpetuity, never to suffer the fate of Wang Labs, Blockbuster, Kodak, RIM?…a fate they narrowly escaped in 1997 with the return of the amazing Steve Jobs. Hope you are resting in peace Steve….
My dad still kicks himself for not buying $1000 in Apple stock in December of 2003 when it was $18 per share and he had money burning a hole in his pocket.
Was that pre-split? I passed them up around the same time, when they were $14 (or $7 in today’s post-split terms).
AAPL adds approx 70 to 100m per day. Busy quarter like XMAS and School holidays about 100m per day and other quarters 701m per day. By now they have over 100b cash. Current year $50 earning per shares x 20 = $1000 plus about 110 cash means value per share is $1110 less 20% Discount means no less then $888. Real bargain. I belive Apple should buy their own shares as it’s a bargain of the century
Especially on Options expiration days and the two days before earnings. Seems to always get cheaper on those days.
Why do the investors worry about such little things. For a long time, between market value and product innovation, Apple proves to make sound decisions without the help of others who are not already onboard. I say trust Apple. If suddenly everything fails, which it could regardless of right or wrong – its just a reality…. then it happens. Just like any other shares can plummet with another company. Diversify! Trust! Mmmmmmmm
Money makes money. And that’s what banks do if they are managed properly. The reason why banks got into trouble is that they do not behave like banks but got involved in Ponzi schemes. Banks all over the world are broken, taught by Wall Street on how to cheat customers and corrupt governments. Apple could buy a bank and slowly change the industry. There were many industries that people, at first, scoffed Apple for being involved. With the right people that Apple hires at the helm, now Apple is the golden standard in all these industries. For those who clamor for a dividend, Apple could invest its huge hoard of cash in its own bank and earn dividends for its shareholders every year or even quarters. How about it, Apple?
That is an interesting idea…a bank run with customer service for the consumer in mind, allowing the Apple shareholders to benefit from their service and innovation.