red oak

dant said:

For once, it would be nice to see Apple try and not be the bully in the school yard and actually act responsibly and ethically for a change. These patents are used by all the phone providers. They are ground breaking patents. They have all signed licenses. The only one fighting was Apple. Now they have lost twice in court, to two jury's, and they still want to appeal? I mean, come on! The technology is not Apples, its been proven. Pay the damages of $85 million for the i phones 6 & 7 and then pony up for what you owe for iphones 8,9,10 and 11 too. (Yup, they now owe for the phones they have created since the case was initially filed, that they admitted ALSO infringed.) Then sign a license to 2023 to when the patents expire. And before anyone tries and spins the patent troll narrative, these patents were invented by the two guys who built the company Wilan, in the first place. They were never acquired from someone else. Just because you can tie things up endlessly in court doesn't mean you should. In fact its shameful and cowardly and arrogant. Apple has hundreds of billions of dollars stored off shore -- avoiding taxes -- and they still won't pony up for the technology they have used to build that mountain of cash. Time to do what is right. Pay for what you are responsible for. For a change.

gatorguy said:

tjwolf said:

gatorguy said:

red oak said:

Debt interest is tax deductible for Apple.  That brings the interest cost down to its dividend yield 

So,  a nearly cost free way for Apple to buy back its own stock.   Makes a ton of sense, especially if Apple thinks the stock will 2 or 3X in the next 8 years 

Nothing about the stock repurchase program makes any sense to me. Apple doesn't keep it, they burn it, and if there's some proof that the buybacks have increased the stock price above where it would otherwise be it's being keep secret. 

This goes both ways: there's no proof that "they burn it" - that share buyback have had no impact on stock prices.  But in general, the laws of supply/demand would suggest that buybacks would positively impact stock price.

There is proof the stock is "burned", zero residual value. But we do both agree there's no hard evidence (that you or I are privy to) that these Apple repurchases have boosted the stock price.