“Tim Cook said on the Mar-18 earnings call that Apple will be net cash neutral ‘over time,’ but stopped short of specifying a timeline. Over the next 12 quarters, we expect Apple to return $300B to shareholders and to be net cash neutral by the end of the Mar-21 quarter,” Gene Munster writes for Loup Ventures. “This would more than double the current pace of capital returns. ”
“Apple has distributed $234B over the previous 6 years,” Munster writes. “We believe the buyback alone could move shares of AAPL higher by 24% over the next 3 years.”
“After a 3-year period, capital distribution levels will normalize, going from about $100B a year to about $50B+. We anticipate Apple to maintain it’s net cash neutral approach into perpetuity. To do this, the company will need to return $50B+ each year, with 85% coming in the form of buybacks,” Munster writes. “This would still leave the company with about $6B in additional cash per quarter to invest…”
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MacDailyNews Take: Wall Street underestimating Apple? Say it ain’t so.