the time of Steve Jobs, Apple has never paid a penny to his shareholders. The money earned by the apple was invested in the development of new products and set aside. This casually vis-à-vis investors is no longer valid
Known for its decision-entrenched positions, the U.S. activist investor Carl Icahn and has made a thunderous announcement:. “We believe the company is extremely undervalued. Even without earnings growth, we believe that the title should be worth nearly $ 625 (instead of 489 today) if the group is accelerating its share repurchases. ” American billionaire even raised orally with Tim Cook Apple has put the amount on the table: $ 150 billion. Much more than his own participation that still qualifies as “high”. According to Bloomberg, it will be limited to 0.2% of the capital is still more than $ 1 billion.
Apple long enough to satisfy its shareholders …Tim Cook he yield to this injunction? Just arrived at the head of the group, he was immediately transferred to shareholder pressure by promising to pay them $ 100 billion in two years, 60 billion share buyback. For mechanically, the share repurchase increases the dividend each shareholder and helps drive up the share price. But can we ever meet in this way investors hurt performance without compromising the future of the company? For Roger Kay, an analyst specializing in the technology sector, “Apple, with its still abundant liquidity and its enormous market capitalization (445000000000 August 13) is less vulnerable than others and has a large reserve of war to defend . “
… but may not be able to enchant the “geeks”
With this strategy, the California giant has nevertheless fallen into the camp of the “normal” companies, those who report shareholders at the expense of R & D. “Before, Apple climbed because there was a promise of innovation, says an analyst with JP Morgan. Today, she climbs because there is a financial hold. This is better for shareholders. After all , IBM and Exxon Mobil are dreaming person shareholders are delighted! “
This shift is made possible by the new economic model of the firm. Previously, Apple was with the launch of new products. And each of them represented a break: Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad … Today, if Apple still makes a lot of money by selling items, it is the sale of digital content (games, video, music and book) that represents a growing share of the profits. The company refuses to disclose its margins by product type but if iTunes is about 6% of its turnover, its contribution to net income increased to 15%.
In short, Apple, the future necessarily synonymous with the arrival of new objects. His strategy is the more soft than the hard. A disaster for the geeks. But a feast for the shareholders that adapt well to a cash machine that takes less innovative but less risk.