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Tim Cook-led Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has amplified its shareholder value for several years with a robust share repurchase program, so much so that only 13 firms worldwide have a market capitalization higher than the shares that AAPL has bought back.
What Happened: Data shared by the Chief Market Strategist at Creative Planning, Charlie Bilello, shows that Apple has bought back $704 billion in stock over the past decade.
That $704 billion figure exceeds the market capitalization of all but 13 companies globally and is greater than that of 488 companies in the S&P 500 index.
Trending: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — and you can too at just $2.90/share.
According to the chart shared by him, AAPL’s current outstanding shares amount to 14.84 billion units, while it has bought back 95.66 billion shares in 10 years, on a trailing basis.
Giants like Eli Lilly And Co. (NYSE:LLY), Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA), and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) have a market capitalization lower than that of Apple’s buybacks in the last 10 years.
However, experts have stated their frustration with Apple’s share repurchase strategy. CNBC’s ‘Mad Money’ host Jim Cramer has reiterated that the buybacks aren’t working, and they need to make an acquisition in the AI space with its cash flow.
The primary reason for promoting this acquisition of the AI-powered search engine, Perplexity AI, stems from the U.S. government’s antitrust ruling against Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) expected in this month. It could force Google to end default search deals with Apple’s Safari browser.
