Today’s research note is not changed by the $45 billion move by Apple in dividends and in share buybacks announced earlier this morning. On a CNBC call, analyst Scott Sutherland said that this represents only a 13-times cash earnings multiple with growth expected in the years ahead. He even noted that Apple could be a trillion company using traditional tech multiples and that the company has plenty of market share left to take as it has only six percent of the global PC market.
As far as the $45 billion announced this morning, the analyst said that this is not a problem at all because that is about what the company is now generating in cash each year.
Apple shares are up 0.9% at $590.72 so far this morning after less than one hour of trading. The current market cap is $550 billion and the 52-week trading range is $310.50 to $600.01.
JON C. OGG