Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook did confirm today that they would be entering into new product categories this year, and of course, Carl Icahn’s got something to say. What a surprise. He tweeted a couple of times today, first about Cook’s comment and then to compare Apple to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).
Icahn says Wall Street’s ignoring Apple
In his first tweet, the activist investor noted that Cook said “new categories (plural)” in his comments.
Tim Cook again confirms $AAPL will launch new products in new categories (plural) this year. Wall Street apparently still not listening.
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) February 7, 2014
He’s been trying to help give Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price a boost for months now, disclosing his sizeable stake in the company and pushing for greater share buyback plans, adding billions of dollars to Apple’s market capitalization with every single tweet. This time around, investors are apparently listening again, sending shares of Apple up nearly 2%. Of course whether they really were listing to Tim Cook or it took Icahn’s tweets to send shares up is another story. Clearly though, Icahn thinks Apple is worth more, and he wants investors to think it too.
Icahn: Apple worth $1,245
Carl Icahn even provided his own estimate of what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock might be worth. In his second tweet, he priced it according to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s multiple. He said Google is trading at 19 times 2014 estimated operating profit. At that same multiple, Apple would be worth $1,245 a share, according to Icahn.
$GOOG @ 19×2014 est operating profit. At same multiple $AAPL=$1,245 per share. Ridiculous. Keep buying Tim! You still have $145 billion cash
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) February 7, 2014
And of course, he certainly wouldn’t miss an opportunity to push his share buyback plan again. He urged Cook to buy more shares, saying that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) still has $145 billion in cash it could spend buying back shares.
Icahn’s tweets come as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s next shareholders’ meeting approaches. He got a non-binding proposal placed on the company’s proxy ballot and has been urging shareholders to vote for it. Although Apple wouldn’t have to comply if shareholders vote in favor of his proposal, he wants the company to buy back $50 billion worth of shares as soon as possible. That’s just a fraction of what he originally wanted though, which was an immediate $150 billion share buyback.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) did take advantage of its fallen stock price right after its last earnings report, however. The company has repurchased about $14 billion worth of its shares since its stock price plunged in the wake of that report. That represented about 28 million shares or 3% of the float, according to BMO Capital’s estimates. The firm estimates that Apple bought back an average of 3 million to 4 million shares each day during the eight trading days after its earnings report.