Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company has bought back $14 billion
of its own shares since reporting earnings on January 28th, reports the
WSJ.
Mr. Cook said Apple was "surprised" by the 8% decline in
its shares on Jan. 28, the day after it reported quarterly results, and
wanted to be "aggressive" and "opportunistic." With the latest
purchases, Mr. Cook said Apple had bought back more than $40 billion of
its shares over the past 12 months, which Mr. Cook said was a record for
any company over a similar span.
"It means that we are
betting on Apple. It means that we are really confident on what we are
doing and what we plan to do," said Cook, speaking in a conference room
at the company's headquarters. "We're not just saying that. We're
showing that with our actions."
Apple is planning to repurchase
$60 billion of its own shares and will disclose 'updates' to its buyback
program in March or April.
Notably, Carl Icahn is pressuring
Apple to be more aggressive with the buyback and has asked shareholders
to vote on a proposal which calls for an additional buyback of $50
billion; however, Apple has asked shareholders to vote against the proposal.
"You
want to be able to adjust for the long-term interest of the
shareholders, not for the short-term shareholder, not for the day
trader," Mr. Cook said. "We may see a huge company tomorrow that we want
to acquire or something may happen in the stock market that's
unpredictable."
Cook says Apple has bought 21 companies over the
past 15 months and although it doesn't typically make large
acquisitions, it would do so if the acquisition made sense.
"We've
looked at big companies. We don't have a predisposition not to buy big
companies. The money is also not burning a hole in our pocket where we
say, 'let's make a list of 10 and pick the best one,'" said Mr. Cook.
"We have no problem spending ten figures for the right company, for the
right fit that's in the best interest of Apple in the long-term. None.
Zero."
No comments:
Post a Comment