“Bernstein Research’s Toni Sacconaghi today reiterates an Outperform rating on Apple (AAPL) shares and a $600 price target, and muses on whether the company should perhaps issue $50 billion to $100 billion worth of debt if it plans to return cash to shareholders through on ongoing dividend,” Tiernan Ray reports for Barron’s.
If Apple were to choose to pay a 40% payout, $50B in debt would enable the company to support such a dividend for nearly 20 years, giving it considerable time to wait for a change in tax law that would enable more favorable access to offshore cash or cash generated offshore. Moreover, we also believe that accessing inexpensive financing at historically low rates makes eminent sense for financial flexibility, particularly since Apple holds no debt today. – Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi
Ray reports, “Sacconaghi notes $50 billion would be the largest ever single debt raise, with close approximations being Roche’s $33 billion issue in 2009.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Oh, for the love of Jobs! Toni ought to get to work on his price target before it looks even more ridiculously low and leave the cash management to the professionals at Apple Inc.
Go look for your missing iPhones, Toni.