Apple to host conference call Monday to discuss its $100B cash balance

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  • Reply 21 of 196
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post


    apparently they're not going to discuss the quarter so my guess is we won't get any iPad numbers.



    I should have read the whole thing. I foolishly assumed that coming off the first weekend iPad sales would also include some news on the results. Seems odd this would have been decided this weekend and announced first thing before the market opens. Is this typical?
  • Reply 22 of 196
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Very interesting. They want to be able to have a dramatic impact on the market it would seem.



    Problems I see with a huge dividend are the percentage of the money outside the US, and the major capital investments in their campus(es). They can do it from LT investment money, but that seems odd.



    Don't really want the $100B to become $75B after paying taxes on offshore money to the US.
  • Reply 23 of 196
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I should have read the whole thing. I foolishly assumed that coming off the first weekend iPad sales would also include some news on the results. Seems odd this would have been decided this weekend and announced first thing before the market opens. Is this typical?



    Seems odd to me too. But I'm guessing a special dividend. I can't see them announcing some major acquisition.
  • Reply 24 of 196
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KPOM View Post


    For 2012, at least as far as American shareholders are concerned, a special dividend would be taxed at 15% (the same as a long term capital gain), so that is one way of doing it.



    My understanding was that long term capitol gains tax for the lowest two income tax brackets remains at 0% in 2012 as it has been since 2008. While that may not mean much for most investors, there are some people with limited income who are smart enough to still put some aside for investing.
  • Reply 25 of 196
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post


    Seems odd to me too. But I'm guessing a special dividend. I can't see them announcing some major acquisition.



    How about buying a big ass laser and rights to the moon's surface to carve out an Apple logo on it? I think $100 billion could achieve that.
  • Reply 26 of 196
    aizmovaizmov Posts: 989member
    Acquisition(s) is the only right answer.
  • Reply 27 of 196
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GregInPrague View Post


    My understanding was that long term capitol gains tax for the lowest two income tax brackets remains at 0% in 2012 as it has been since 2008. While that may not mean much for most investors, there are some people with limited income who are smart enough to still put some aside for investing.



    I doubt there are many Apple investors in the bottom two brackets. Plus, it is more likely that no matter who gets elected in November, their taxes won't be going up much, if at all. On the other hand, if the highest tax rate on dividends goes from 15% this year to 42.5% next year (39.6% pre-Bush rate plus the Medicare surcharge that goes into effect next year), that would have a HUGE impact on how a dividend is received by the Street.
  • Reply 28 of 196
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I'd like a stock buy back and for Apple to announce plans to split the stock. I'm expecting a dividend and an announcement of how successful this weekend's iPads were.



    There's not going to be a stock buyback at $580. Maybe if the stock dropped below $500. And I have a feeling there's not even going to be a dividend even though a dividend would probably raise the share price. I bet we're going to get the "we want to hold the cash for a large acquisition" line. Maybe we'll get a split, but that's actually pretty meaningless for most situations.
  • Reply 29 of 196
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aizmov View Post


    Acquisition(s) is the only right answer.



    But if that were the case, they would just announce a deal tomorrow morning rather than pre-announce it today. Acquisitions are usually negotiated right up until the time the deal is announced, and it is not unusual for the terms to be discussed late into the night just before the press release is prepared.
  • Reply 30 of 196
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zoetmb View Post


    There's not going to be a stock buyback at $580. Maybe if the stock dropped below $500. And I have a feeling there's not even going to be a dividend even though a dividend would probably raise the share price. I bet we're going to get the "we want to hold the cash for a large acquisition" line. Maybe we'll get a split, but that's actually pretty meaningless for most situations.



    Until you have a deal, it makes no sense to say "we're going to set aside up to $X for an acquisition" because you would lose leverage. Plus there would be lots of speculation on who the target is, which creates tricky legal issues. Acquisitions aren't announced until the deal is signed.
  • Reply 31 of 196
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post


    Education pricing would be great, the biggest reason I'll be getting one is to benefit my son's education.



    Don't know how young your son is, but if he's still in elementary school (or less), you'd be benefitting his education more by keeping him off of computer devices for a while. Kids need to put pen to paper and learn to have the patience to read linear, non-interactive material. Give them highly interactive audio/video at too young an age and they'll have lots of problems acquiring reading skills.



    And if Apple did have education pricing (don't they already have education pricing?) it would be for educational institutions, such as schools who want to buy in large numbers. In ages past, they made deals where if the college bookstore stocked Apple, a college ID got you a small discount.



    Apple is not of the mind to put an iPad in the hands of every kid, unless those kids' parents are willing to foot the bill. Some will say that's the only legit stand for a public, profit-making company to take and others will say that Apple has become just like any other large selfish company, but it's a moot point because Apple is never going to be giving away anything.
  • Reply 32 of 196
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tyler82 View Post


    Lickable iPads!



    Been done already!

    /

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  • Reply 33 of 196
    macslutmacslut Posts: 514member
    I think the short version of the call will be:

    They've passed the 100 Billion mark, and they're going to start issuing dividends.



    Stock buy back doesn't make sense with the stock so high.



    A stock split may happen, but doesn't affect what Apple does with the cash.



    A major acquisition wouldn't be announced like this, and I don't think the executive team at Apple is in anyway interested in taking on a major acquisition.



    Really, the only thing that I think could be a surprise here is whether or not Apple will take on some debt to finance dividends while leaving foreign money abroad until more favorable tax conditions occur.



    Additionally, I could see Apple bringing in some people and forming a VC fund, but I think this would be a minor amount of their money.
  • Reply 34 of 196
    rbonnerrbonner Posts: 635member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    How about buying a big ass laser and rights to the moon's surface to carve out an Apple logo on it? I think $100 billion could achieve that.



    Made my day!!!
  • Reply 35 of 196
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KPOM View Post


    I doubt there are many Apple investors in the bottom two brackets. Plus, it is more likely that no matter who gets elected in November, their taxes won't be going up much, if at all. On the other hand, if the highest tax rate on dividends goes from 15% this year to 42.5% next year (39.6% pre-Bush rate plus the Medicare surcharge that goes into effect next year), that would have a HUGE impact on how a dividend is received by the Street.



    I would imagine that there are at least a few people who have Apple shares from before the economic crisis. Maybe they were laid off and found much lower paying work (or no work) that puts them in the lower brackets now. Great for them to be able to sell their shares and avoid taxes.



    Also there are millions of Americans working outside of America (most for American companies) and the first $97,000 of foreign earned income is nontaxable by the IRS. Sure many of them are making way more than that, but for those of us that make way less but still enough to invest we get that benefit of falling in the bottom of the US tax brackets and at least through this year are able to sell profitable stock and avoiding long term capital gains.



    I only mention it in case someone on here is in the same situation. I didn't learn about the 0% tax on lowest tax brackets until 2010 when it was originally going to expire. I sold our shares and rebought the same day, effectively raising our cost basis from $110 to $315 per share without having to pay any tax on the profits and I'm planning to do the same thing in December of this year.
  • Reply 36 of 196
    Buy half of Detroit, build factories, leave China.



    Apple, Made in America.



    Rule.
  • Reply 37 of 196
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CGJ View Post


    I hope it's education pricing for iPads and automatic AppleCare



    Good suggestions. Apple products are generally pretty reliable, I doubt they'd lose much money throwing a 3 year warranty on everything and a $299 iPad 2 for schools couldn't go far wrong.



    I'd like to see them invest more in software and pay games studios to develop/port games to iOS and Mac systems. A single game generally costs under $30m to develop from scratch. $3b buys them 100 top quality franchise games and keeps a dying industry breathing. It wouldn't even cost anywhere near that much either as they make money on the sales of the apps for years and it keeps many talented people in jobs. They might even end up back in profit.



    More spending on R&D in energy research. Better batteries - faster charging, higher capacity.



    Invest more in content distribution. Get the rights to shows on iTunes like Seinfeld. Turn ATV into the place to watch old favourites and movies as soon as they are out on DVD/Blu-Ray.



    Work with hardware companies to make Mac peripherals. Be the driving force behind Thunderbolt instead of sticking a port on and waiting for everyone else to catch up.



    Start selling SSD upgrades at affordable prices.
  • Reply 38 of 196
    Is there any chance they were already buying back stock before this announcement? That would explain some of this runup.
  • Reply 39 of 196
    jakebjakeb Posts: 562member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gowhitestripes View Post


    Is there any chance they were already buying back stock before this announcement? That would explain some of this runup.



    I don't think that would fly at the SEC. You have to file public paperwork for that kind of thing.
  • Reply 40 of 196
    ok; was wondering if it was possible.
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