Carl Icahn and Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss buyback proposal over dinner in Sept.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who owns a major stake in Apple, is planning to discuss expanding the company's share buyback program with Chief Executive Tim Cook next month.
Icahn revealed in a post to his official Twitter account that he and Cook are planning to meet for dinner in September. He noted that Cook already "believes" in a share buyback, as the company is currently in the process of investing $60 billion in its own stock through 2015.
However, the two parties plan to discuss the "magnitude" of Apple's current buyback plans, Icahn said. He began posting on his account last week about his interest in having Apple invest even more money into its buyback program.
Icahn has said he believes that shares of AAPL are "extremely undervalued" at their current price. His support of the company helped to push Apple past $500 per share last week.
Currently Icahn has about $1.5 billion invested in Apple. On Twitter, he described his stake as a "large position."
Apple spent $16 billion last quarter alone on repurchasing 36 million in shares. The original schedule had called for the company to buy 10 million in shares in the third quarter, but Apple apparently decided to push harder and buy at an average share price of $444.44 ? more than $250 off from the company's high of $702.10 reached last September.
Reacting to Icahn's suggestion, Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank said this week that he believes Apple could boost its 2014 earnings per share by $4.25 if it were to buy back an additional $50 billion in stock. And Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets said last week he believes Apple could nearly double its $60 billion share buyback program, adding about $4 to 2014 earnings per share.
Icahn revealed in a post to his official Twitter account that he and Cook are planning to meet for dinner in September. He noted that Cook already "believes" in a share buyback, as the company is currently in the process of investing $60 billion in its own stock through 2015.
However, the two parties plan to discuss the "magnitude" of Apple's current buyback plans, Icahn said. He began posting on his account last week about his interest in having Apple invest even more money into its buyback program.
Icahn has said he believes that shares of AAPL are "extremely undervalued" at their current price. His support of the company helped to push Apple past $500 per share last week.
Currently Icahn has about $1.5 billion invested in Apple. On Twitter, he described his stake as a "large position."
Apple spent $16 billion last quarter alone on repurchasing 36 million in shares. The original schedule had called for the company to buy 10 million in shares in the third quarter, but Apple apparently decided to push harder and buy at an average share price of $444.44 ? more than $250 off from the company's high of $702.10 reached last September.
Reacting to Icahn's suggestion, Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank said this week that he believes Apple could boost its 2014 earnings per share by $4.25 if it were to buy back an additional $50 billion in stock. And Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets said last week he believes Apple could nearly double its $60 billion share buyback program, adding about $4 to 2014 earnings per share.
Comments
Not Apple, but Icahn. He's worth 20B, 1.6 is indeed a major stake.
Oh… so HE'S the one who won the dinner with Tim Cook!
The buyback may or may not make sense, but it's acquiescing to these caterwaulers that makes them (and their kind) screech even more....
It bugs the heck out of me that the retail shareholder has little or no say.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Oh… so HE'S the one who won the dinner with Tim Cook!
This could very well be true. He's trying to make it sound like Tim wants to meet him for dinner (we're close like that) but really he just bid up and won the auction. My spidey sense keeps tingling whenever I hear about iCahn.
welcome to the plutocracy... thems with the gold makes the rules.
Icahn is self aggrandizing. But that said, If he were an 'institution' he'd be number 5, edging out Northern Trust. It's significant.
and if you think the top institutional investors don't call Tim/BoD members and discuss ways to make their investment more lucrative, you are living a fool's folly. They just don't make it public (they 'leak it' ;-) ).
And most of the first $10Billion in stock repurchase was redistributed to employees as compensation... And keeping stock liquid within in the Apple family is good for a number of reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sog35
Exactly. Its actually more fair to the small investor that Icahn makes these meetings public. No insider trading at all. EVERYTHING out in the OPEN is fair for everyone.
Tim Cook serves at the discretion of the Apple board of directors so he'll not do anything stupid, like make "Carl" any promises. He'll let him bend his ear, that's about it.
Meeting with that parasite is very stupid!!
He owns the shares so... it's his property. We can cry about it but if we only have 1/1,000,000 as much Apple stock as he does, our opinion matters about as much as an ant on a pile of cow dung. If you will.
Whether or not Apple buys back its own stock should not move the stock at all. If it moves up, so much the worse. That means Apple pisses away more money. Giving it away to Apple employees is likewise just a leak on the shareholder's wealth.
The company hasn't innovated or tried anything brave since Steve died. They are just trying to manage the iPhone and iPad on their way down. Mac OS X is already vanishing relevance. Few apps are developed for it anymore. I have been a user since OS X 10.1. And a Mac OS user since System 6.x. Back then, progress was pretty swift. It's now 5 years since ANYTHING happened in Mac OS. 10 years since anything major.
Daily rant complete.
Originally Posted by bwik
The company hasn't innovated or tried anything brave since Steve died. They are just trying to manage the iPhone and iPad on their way down. Mac OS X is already vanishing relevance. Few apps are developed for it anymore. I have been a user since OS X 10.1. And a Mac OS user since System 6.x. Back then, progress was pretty swift. It's now 5 years since ANYTHING happened in Mac OS. 10 years since anything major.
Shut up. You want to spew lies, do it somewhere people care.
How fitting that Carl "I"cahn is now eyeing Apple.
His current stake may not seem like much but his history suggests he'll find a way to control more shares. There are/will be shareholders who will gladly support his shakedown of Tim Cook. The key is whether the Apple board has the wherewithal to stand up to him.
Insider trading is being able to act on non-public information. The detail that he is having dinner with Tim (presumably Apple's Tim Cook and not some other guy called Tim who is also doing a buyback) is not important but it's what they say to each other over dinner. If Icahn gets any details over the period of time the buyback happens and confirmation on any changes to the size of the buyback then he can execute trades based on that information before the public knows about it. I've no doubt that his bank balance attests to his ability to get away with this sort of thing though. Companies dealing in stocks and shares are always trying to find ways to get their stock values up and the more direct influence the better:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/business/us-subpoenas-goldman-in-inquiry-of-aluminum-warehouses.html?_r=1&
It seems his strategy is typically to buy up shares that to some appear to be undervalued, which alone helps boost the trading price (called the Icahn Lift) and then he dumps the shares quickly afterwards for a profit:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4336409n
and he harasses CEOs and boards of directors into doing what he wants. I don't think Tim will bend to his will though. If he can put up with Kara Swisher without punching her in the mouth he can deal with Icahn.
It's called exercising his Freedom of Speech. It's only manipulation if he sells his shares right after the announcement. Even en, it's not insider trading because the information is now public.
I literally LOLd for almost a minute.. Listening to Kara, the shill questioners at the end, and even Mossburg, are like nails on a chalkboard. Tim dealt with it exceptionally well, especially at the 2012 all things d (when that sleezy googler tried to call him out on iAd).
That auction was for coffee with Tim - not dinner.