Apple spends $14 billion buying back its own shares

Chief executive Tim Cook says that spending cash reserves on buying back shares and boosting the price for remaining investors proves “that we are betting on Apple" 

 

Apple has spent $14 billion (£8.6 billion) buying back its own stock over the last two weeks, according to reports.

Chief executive Tim Cook said, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “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. We are not just saying that. We are showing that with our actions.”

The newspaper claimed that the company bought $12 billion though an accelerated share repurchase program and a further $2 billion on the open market.

Cook also admitted that he was surprised by the 8 per cent tumble that Apple's share price took on January 28, the day after reporting its fourth quarter results. Strong demand for iPhones and iPads helped push Apple sales to a record $57.6 billion, but the figures were not enough to satisfy investors who had become accustomed to double-digit growth in previous years.

The news also led activist investor Carl Icahn to lobby Apple to spend more of its $159 billion cash hoard on share buybacks, and also take the opportunity to buy another $500m worth of Apple shares himself.