• To return cash to shareholders. Apple has a lot of cash on hand, and it can’t invest all of it in new products and services. By buying back stock, Apple can return some of that cash to shareholders, which they can then use to invest in other companies or products, or simply save for retirement.
• To offset dilution. When a company issues new shares, it dilutes the value of existing shares. By buying back stock, Apple can offset this dilution and keep the value of its shares stable.
The technology titan has spent more on repurchases since 2012 than the entire market capitalization of Visa ($489 billion), JPMorgan ($446 billion), or Exxon Mobil ($441 billion). Only eight companies in the S&P 500 are worth more than Apple’s outlay on buybacks to date.
Indeed, Apple has spent north of $50 billion a year buying its own stock since 2018. It splurged $90 billion on buybacks in its last financial year, and has repurchased $56 billion worth of its shares in the last nine months alone.
Moreover, the iPhone maker’s board recently approved another $90 billion of repurchases. That amount exceeds the total worth of Citigroup ($85 billion), and is nearly double the market value of Hershey’s ($46 billion).