Apple adds $50B to capital return program, to distribute $200B by 2017
Apple on Monday announced a significant expansion of its stock buyback and dividend program that will see the initiative grow to $140 billion from $90 billion, including an 11-percent bump in the quarterly dividend.
In total, Apple plans to return some $200 billion to shareholders by the end of March 2017. The company has already returned $112 billion since 2012, including $80 billion in stock buybacks.
The dividend will rise to $0.52 per share for shareholders of record at the close of business on May 11. The previous dividend, paid in February, was set at $0.47.
"We believe Apple has a bright future ahead, and the unprecedented size of our capital return program reflects that strong confidence," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "While most of our program will focus on buying back shares, we know that the dividend is very important to many of our investors, so we're raising it for the third time in less than three years."
The increase comes as Apple sold a blockbuster 61 million iPhones in the just-ended quarter, booking $13.6 billion in profit. That represents a nearly 30 percent year-over-year increase.
In total, Apple plans to return some $200 billion to shareholders by the end of March 2017. The company has already returned $112 billion since 2012, including $80 billion in stock buybacks.
The dividend will rise to $0.52 per share for shareholders of record at the close of business on May 11. The previous dividend, paid in February, was set at $0.47.
"We believe Apple has a bright future ahead, and the unprecedented size of our capital return program reflects that strong confidence," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "While most of our program will focus on buying back shares, we know that the dividend is very important to many of our investors, so we're raising it for the third time in less than three years."
The increase comes as Apple sold a blockbuster 61 million iPhones in the just-ended quarter, booking $13.6 billion in profit. That represents a nearly 30 percent year-over-year increase.
Comments
iPad sales down - DOOM imminent !!
Apple has returned all the 1997's money to share holders without shutting down the company. ????????
and Dell hasn't...
(Cut to Michael Dell crying)
(Cut to Michael Dell crying)
Doomed! Doomed! How will they outperform this next year?
Forget next year. Apple's growth will be at a standstill next quarter. By tomorrow all the articles will be about how Apple has already gone as far as it can go and has reached the speed of light barrier. It will be all downhill from this point on. They say the same thing practically every quarter and truthfully it's wearing a bit thin. Why does the news media hate Apple so much to keep spreading such BS quarter after quarter?
Meanwhile, on the product front, AppleTV next, then car?
Because that's what many of us do as Americans: tear down American companies and other successful Americans. After all, the thinking goes, someone else's success must mean my relative failure.
2017 pricing on stock should be very well close to $200 with those buyback plans. Watch, pay, apps, itunes, and all the rest are unlikely to be any worse over the next year.
They didn't mentionhow many pre-orders occured for the watch which is concerning, but then again many are on the sidelines as consumers until they don't have to wait for months. Announcing the apple pre-orders may be misleadingly low numbers than what will bw happening by christmas since the watch is the obvious christmas gift this season.
Apple adds $50B to capital return program, to distribute $200B by 2017
Article title is not entirely correct. Yes, the total is now $200B by 2017, but this is a $70B add to the capital return program. $50B to the repurchase allocation, but the capital return program includes both the repurchase allocation and the dividend allocation, so the total add is $70B, as both Tim and Luca were quoted to say during the conference call.
Shameful waste of money. They really could change the world with $200Bn.