What to Make of Apple’s Huge Debt Offering

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is about to have a massive benchmark note and bond offering. Word has been out that the offering will be in excess of $10 billion.

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed a nine traunch deal. The first two are floating rate notes, one due in 2018 and one due in 2019. Other fixed-rate notes would be due in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2026, 2036 and 2046.

The issue here is not that Apple needs the cash on a broad scale. It has over $100 billion in cash. Still, much of that cash is housed overseas, where Apple generates the bulk of its revenues. Yes, Apple generates more outside of the United States than it does inside it.

Apple already has total term debt of $55.548 billion prior to this debt issuance. That is versus a total shareholders equity of $128.267 billion — with $101.494 billion being retained earnings and $28.253 billion from the carried or par value of its outstanding shares.
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Apple’s use of proceeds said:

We intend to use such net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including repurchases of our common stock and payment of dividends under our program to return capital to shareholders, funding for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and repayment of debt.

Apple further noted that its 2023 fixed-rate note traunch would be used toward identifying eligible projects that fall within three environmental priorities in which the company thinks it can make the most environmentally positive impact:

• Reduce its impact on climate change by using renewable energy sources and driving energy efficiency in its facilities, products and supply chain.
• Pioneer the use of greener materials in its products and processes.
• Conserve precious resources.

Apple also listed the joint book-running managers as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities and JPMorgan.

Apple shares were last seen up 2.5% at $96.30, within a 52-week range of $92.00 to $134.54. The consensus analyst price target is almost $136, and the market cap is $534 billion.