The Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc. – Mr. Tim Cook made few steps yesterday in order to assure the companys investors that the companys robust gains have not come to an end. The company made an official statement, saying it will add 30 billion dollars to its stock-buyback plan and will boost dividends by 8%. Apple also revealed strong iPhone sales that helped the company post a better-than-expected net income and confounded expectations of a slowdown. Apple Inc. sold 43.7 million iPhones in the second quarter of the fiscal year, as the companys flagship handset was released through China Mobile Ltd, which is the biggest wireless carrier in the world.
The companys net income was reported to have increased by 7% and reached 10.2 billion dollars, while sales have risen 4.7%, reaching 45.6 billion dollars. The results outstripped analysts expectations for a net income of 9.1 billion dollars and sales of 43.5 billion dollars.
As reported by Bloomberg, Mr. Cook said in a statement: “Apple has created tremendous value for shareholders by developing great products that enrich people’s lives and that will always be our top priority and driving force. The size of the share buyback increase is a signal of the board and the management team’s strong confidence in the future of Apple.”
30 billion dollars were added to the companys stock-buyback plan in an attempt to comfort its shareholders. Apple Inc. also boosted its dividend by about 8% amid increasing iPhone sales. The companys shareholders feared that the strong momentum has come to an end, but iPhones sales, especially the ones in the region of China, pushed Apple ahead and provided it with the opportunity to surpass analysts expectations about its revenue.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the buyback program of Apple Inc. was expanded from 60 to 90 billion dollars, which according to CEO Cook undoubtedly showed “how much confidence” he had in the companys future.
In addition, Mr. Cook also explained that there are some new products planned to be released. The company is preparing to launch a new Apple TV set-top box, as well as a new series of its iPhone flagship with larger screens and a wearable device.
The new Chief Financial Officer of the company – Luca Maerstri shared that the results posted by Apple beat even its own projections for the quarter. Mr. Maestri said in an interview for the Financial Times: “It’s the best revenue ever that we’ve had for a non-holiday quarter. The biggest driver for these results was clearly iPhone, but not only iPhone. (…) We are especially proud of the performance we had in Greater China. (…) We are returning more cash to share holders at a faster pace than any other company ever”
Apple Inc. was 1.31% down to close at 524.75 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +29.21%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 45 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Apple Inc. have a median target of 600.00, with a high estimate of 777.00 and a low estimate of 360.00. The median estimate represents a +14.34% increase from the last price of 524.75.
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