Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. recently joined a long list of potential acquisition targets that over the years has grown to include Netflix Inc., Tesla Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc. and Sonos Inc. They all have one thing in common: Anyone betting that Apple would buy them has so far been sorely disappointed.
“You’re probably missing the value of the business if you think the key catalyst for investment is a major acquisition,” said Kevin Walkush, portfolio manager at Jensen Investment Management. “It’s a low-probability bet.”
“Not doing a big deal hasn’t impacted them and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Gregg Abella, chief executive officer of Investment Partners Asset Management, which holds the stock. “I’m pleased that Apple has a lot of discipline in this regard.”
Apple’s biggest purchase in its history was the $3 billion takeover of Beats Music and Beats Electronics in 2014. Microsoft’s pending acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard is valued at $69 billion…
Instead of splurging on deals, Apple returns much of its excess cash to shareholders via share buybacks and dividends. Those expenditures totaled more than $100 billion in fiscal 2022 and it still had $165 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, as of Dec. 31.
