Jim Suva, a Citi research analyst, said in the report that Apple will use tax reform earnings to substantially increase the size of stock repurchases and dividend payouts. In the next earnings conference call, Apple is expected to announce plans to return shareholder returns. Scale increase 100 billion US dollars, from the current 300 billion US dollars to 400 billion US dollars.
The increase of 100 billion U.S. dollars is equivalent to twice the previous one. In 2016 and 2017, Apple will increase the scale of its capital return projects by 50 billion U.S. dollars each year. In May last year, Apple announced that it plans to increase its capital return plan by 50 billion U.S. dollars. Returned 300 billion U.S. dollars to shareholders as of March 2019.
This also means that Apple will double the size of its annual stock repurchase. In the past five years, Apple has invested an average of US$32 billion in annual repurchase of shares. To that end, Suva said: 'We believe that it is equal to the market average. In contrast, Apple stocks are still attractive, and stock prices will continue to grow.
Citi Research reiterated Apple's Buy rating and maintained its target price of $200 unchanged, which was 16.5% higher than Wednesday's closing price. On May 1, Apple will release the second quarter of fiscal year 2018.