Competition from Samsung, others deflates expectations at Apple (WashingtonPost)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its quarterly earnings report Tuesday as many investors and analysts turn increasingly skeptical about the company’s prospects. Profits at Apple declined for the first time in a decade: The company’s net income fell 18 percent, to $9.5 billion, in the first quarter, compared with the corresponding period last year. That beat analysts expectations, and revenue increased 11 percent, to $43.6 billion. But the combination of slower revenue growth and tighter profit margins was enough to unnerve some investors. Apple gained nearly 2 percent to close at $406.13 Tuesday before reporting its quarterly results. In after-hours trading, the stock initially rose but cooled and was trading in slightly negative territory late Tuesday.
Apple to distribute $100 billion in cash to its shareholders (NDTV)
Apple is opening the doors to its bank vault, saying it will distribute $100 billion in cash to its shareholders by the end of 2015. At the same time, the company said revenue for the current quarter could fall from the year before, which would be the first decline in many years. Apple CEO Tim Cook also suggested that the company won’t release any new products until the fall, contrary to expectations that there would be a new iPhone and iPads out this summer. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) on Tuesday said it will expand its share buyback program to $60 billion – the largest buyback authorization in history. It is also raising its dividend by 15 percent from $2.65 to $3.05 per share. That equates to a dividend yield of 3 percent at current stock prices. The average yield for the 20 largest dividend-paying companies in the U.S. is 3.1 percent, according to Standard & Poor’s.
Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘We Had Our Best Quarter Ever in China’ (WSJ)
Despite state-run media attacks and porn crackdowns aside, China was the lone growth market for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the latest quarter, company executives revealed in an earnings call on Tuesday. Revenue for the Cupertino, Calif. electronics maker rose 8% year-on-year to $8.2 billion in greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. In every other market, the company saw sales decline or stay flat. …The reference to “first-time buyers” is a noteworthy nod to Apple’s efforts to tap the market for lower-end smartphones – a strategy analysts say could be especially risky in China.
Has Apple hit Google’s Glass wall? (GlobalNews)
In the fall of 2008 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced it would buy $40 billion worth of its own stock, an unprecedented sum for the software giant – or any other company for that matter at the time. Investors like share “buybacks” because they help lift a company’s stock price. It suggests the company is making so much money, it can afford to send back a special reward to its investors. But the move also suggests something else: decline. …Apple’s transformative iPhone – the catalyst for so much of the company’s unparalleled success in recent years – has showed recent signs that its hold over consumers is slipping. Apple’s share of the smartphone market is 20 per cent globally, compared with 70 per cent among phone makers using Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android.
Apple debt issuance would dwarf that of tech rivals (Reuters)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could go from being the only major technology company with no debt on its books to one that issues as many bonds as a major global bank, as it seeks to fund its $100 billion capital reward for shareholders unveiled on Tuesday. Apple has $145 billion of cash, but “only” $45 billion of that is on hand in the U.S., according to some estimates. That is not enough to pay for plans to buy back $60 billion of shares over the next three years. That means the company will have to issue about $15 billion to $20 billion a year for the next three years, according to credit research firm CreditSights.
