After Apple posted its best-ever quarter this past January, many wondered what the company would do with the sheer amount of cash it has in the bank. With the $13.06 billion in profited that quarter, the company reached $97.6 billion in the bank, a staggering number to say the least. Many speculated that the company would simply buy back some stock, rather than make some huge investment or acquisition, but in the end, it looks like it could be both of those things.
Beginning in Q4 2012, Apple will begin paying dividends to its shareholders at a cost of $2.65 per share. Going further, it will also repurchase $10 billion worth of shares over the course of the next three years. Past that, the company is also planning to use $45 billion between now and 2015, though what for is currently unknown.
As CNN Money reports, Apple is dipping into is domestic cash fund for much or all of its spending here, because though the company likely has more money outside of the US, it’d be essentially eaten by taxing done by the US government when bringing it into the USA. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, wanted to avoid that sort of thing from happening (and so would all of Apple’s shareholders).
How things will play out for Apple over the next couple of years will be interesting. With the moves it will be making between now and 2015, the company will unload about half of what it currently has in the bank, but with the company earning $10b+ per quarter, that bank account is only going to continue growing. That’s probably a good thing, as it’s going to be difficult to find many more investors willing to tolerate a $600 stock price.