“I recently detailed how Apple investors are basically in a holding period right now. Apple’s dividend has been raised, a substantial buyback is in the works, and no new major products are coming for a few months,” Bill Maurer writes for Seeking Alpha. “This will be a multi-step process, and it will take time. Last week, Apple completed phase 2A of the process. Today, I’ll explain what that means, and look forward to the next steps in this process.”
“Phase 1 was the announcement of Apple’s cash plans. Apple raised its quarterly dividend from $2.65 to $3.05, and added another $50 billion to its buyback,” Maurer writes. “Everyone was looking at WWDC to see what Apple would unveil, and like many figured, there really weren’t any surprises. This is phase 2A of the process, because even though some new products and services were announced, they weren’t large scale items.”
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Maurer writes, “Phase 2B coming next month: Because I didn’t consider WWDC a huge deal when it came to Apple, I’ve lumped that event into a two-part phase that will continue next month. As you probably can guess, I’m referring to Apple’s fiscal Q3 earnings report. We don’t know the exact date yet, so figure the last week or two of the month.”
“Phase 3 will come when Apple launches some new versions of the iPhone and iPad (including Mini). That process is expected to start either in late August or September, and probably finish sometime in October, especially if Apple wants stuff out for the holidays. We all know that an iPhone 5S is coming, along with a new iPad and Mini,” Maurer writes. “The question will be if Apple releases a cheaper iPhone, and if there is anything else that comes out. Is this the year for an iWatch, or will Apple push further into the TV market? We’ll see, but until then, we’ll be waiting for a while.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]