The power of buybacks is one big reason the fruit might continue higher. Two years ago in late Feb, 2015 Apple closed at $133. With over 5.8 billion shares outstanding at that time, its market cap was $775 billion.
Today there are 5.25 billion shares outstanding. That same $133 price calculates to a $697 billion market cap. It's two years later, the company has a crapload more cash, a higher dividend that's going to be raised again next quarter, the potential for a repatriation tax holiday on the near horizon, and new markets opening up in India and elsewhere.
Plus the EU Irish tax thing is substantially behind us, with the $13b in escrow and accounted for on Apple's balance sheet, new products like the Apple Watch, Pencil, iPad Pro, AirPods, Apple Music, Beats hardware, Apple Pay, all are new products that Apple didn't have two years ago, plus more new products coming and the tenth anniversary iPhone this year, etc, etc. No wonder the stock's been running.
Add to that the dividends which drop the price of the stock by the dividend price when issued. That's 8 dividends at ~50 cents a piece = 4 bucks that you can add onto today's stock price.
That's all nonsense. There has never been any evidence that any of this matters. Stock buybacks are just throwing money away. Dividends do have a positive effect on stock price, as value institutions and dividend investors buy. But none of it can be directly proven. It's all supposition.
From about $2 billion to $7 billion in stock. wow.
Not Buffet buying Apple, but one of his possible successors. Buffet typically shies away from tech, his holdings tend toward simpler, less complicated investments.
That used to be true, and the first Apple purchase was by a trader in his company. The recent buys are being attributed to his decisions.
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