Apple (AAPL) Buyback Was About 19% of Avg. Daily Volume, BMO Says; News is a Positive
February 7, 2014 10:10 AM EST
Today it was reveled that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) bought back $14 billion worth of its stock since its
earnings report on January 27. Based on this disclosure, BMO analyst Keith Bachman estimates the
company repurchased around 28 million shares during this period (based on an average stock price
of around $505 per share). Moreover, Apple has repurchased on average 3-4 million shares per day
during the eight trading days, or about 19% of average daily volume.
Based on the share buybacks to date, Bachman estimates Apple's average diluted share count in the
March quarter could decline by 22-23 million shares which compares to a 15 million decline in their model.
Assuming the average diluted share count of 879 million versus 886 million the modeled, then the
firm's March quarter EPS would increase by around $0.09, all else being equal.
Investors should applaud the news, the analyst said. "Given the approximately $128 billion of net cash
post the buybacks, or $142 per share, we believe that Apple's activity in the market is positive and should
be well received by investors," he said.
The firm maintained an Outperform rating and price target of $560.
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