Apple Earnings Dominated by Major Stock Split and Dividend Hike

By Jon C. Ogg Updated Apr 24, 6:39AM EDT · Published Apr 23, 4:44PM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is out with its second-quarter earnings for 2014. The pressure has been on and off for Tim Cook to do something more aggressive, and this earnings report will put at least some of that to rest.

Earnings came in at $11.62 per share on revenue of $45.6 billion. Thomson Reuters had the consensus estimates at $10.18 in earnings per share versus $10.09 a year ago. The revenue estimate was $43.53 billion, which would have been a tiny 0.2% drop from the $43.60 billion a year ago.

The big news here is that Apple is splitting its stock on a 7-for-1 basis, and trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis on June 9, 2014. Be advised that the stock was halted going into the earnings announcement.

Apple’s second-quarter guidance from January had been for revenues of between $42 billion and $44 billion and for gross margin between 37% and 38%. WhisperNumber.com sent us a whisper number of $10.29 earnings per share, taken from a range of $9.95 to $10.50.

Gross margin was 39.3%, versus 37.5% a year ago quarter. Also, Apple continues to be ever more of an international story as international sales accounted for 66% of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple’s guidance for the coming quarter is for revenue to be between $36 billion and $38 billion, and for gross margin to be between 37% and 38%. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $37.87 billion in revenue.

One additional hope was for a dividend hike and more news of the buyback plans ahead. Apple’s board of directors approved an increase to the dividend of approximately 8% and has declared a dividend of $3.29 per common share. More important is that Apple said it also plans to increase its dividend on an annual basis.

The board has also increased its share repurchase authorization to $90 billion from the $60 billion level announced last year. Apple expects to utilize a total of more than $130 billion of cash under the expanded program by the end of calendar 2015. From August 2012 through March 2014, Apple has spent $66 billion in cash on its capital return program.

Apple shares closed down 1.3%, or $6.95 lower, at $524.75, against a 52-week range of $388.87 to $575.14. The consensus price target from analysts ahead of the report was almost $595.

UPDATED: Apple’s stock reopened at 4:45 p.m. EST, and the stock was up some 8% at $567 in the after-hours session.

About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.