Apple Has Dazzling Sideshow, But Main Event Is Boring
Imagine. Steve Jobs comes onstage, firing up his iPad to project beautiful tables and charts of money. From the stage sofa, he announces Apple’s stock split (“Now the little investor can buy 70 shares instead of only ten”). He then tells about the big dividend money being distributed to shareholders (“We trust you to put it to better use than we can”). Next, he explains the large increase in share buybacks (“We have it in our control to grow our earnings-per-share through share attrition.”) Then, with pride, he announces that this largesse can be done without recalling taxable overseas cash deposits by simply borrowing the money.
Here are the problems with depending on a financial strategy to produce growth…
This article is published on Forbes.com