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Apple Inc.

5/25/2013, 4:50 PM ET

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Saturday, May 25, 4:15 PM Apple's (AAPL) effective tax rate of 14% is just a smidgin lower than IBM at 15% and Google (GOOG) at 17%. And Apple's hardly on the lowest rung: Amazon's (AMZN) rate is just 6%, Ford's (F) 3%, and Carnival's (CCL) just 1%. In trying to untangle what S&P 500 companies pay in taxes, David Leonhardt finds top executives are exceptionally shrewd at holding tax rates down. (infographic) 2 Comments
Friday, May 24, 9:31 AM "Apple's (AAPL) sorta cheap," says Jeff Gundlach, admitting he's now long the stock he famously shorted 100-200 points ago. He doesn't seem terribly excited about the company's business prospects, but - selling for 7x earnings (excluding cash) - a hot new product isn't necessary to make the investment profitable. "(Apple) can keep selling a whole bunch of expensive new phones and iPads, and they'll be a cash cow." 22 Comments [Tech]
Friday, May 24, 4:35 AM U.S. District Judge Denise Cote has dealt a blow to Apple (AAPL) over charges that it manipulated e-book prices, giving a "tentative view" that the Department of Justice will be able to show "direct evidence" that Apple took part in a conspiracy with publishers to raise prices. Apple is the last man standing in the case after all the publishers involved settled. The trial is due to start on June 3. 7 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Thursday, May 23, 3:11 PM Chatter says trading desks are busy with corporate buyback activity today as CFOs take advantage of a little selling to put repurchase plans into action. AAPL is the gorilla, having bumped its authorization to $60B from $10B. Others of note include: LyondellBasel (LYB), Merck (MRK) - which just entered an accelerated repurchase program, NetApp (NTAP), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Macy's (M), and Delta (DAL). There's also IBM - long with a reputation for issuing debt at lows in yield. Is their equity timing as good? 6 Comments
Thursday, May 23, 12:13 PM Dover (DOV +4.8%) is upgraded to Buy from Neutral with a $90 price target at BAML following news it is spinning its Knowles and Sound Solutions businesses into a new public company. The firm had been concerned about DOV's exposure to Nokia (NOK) and Blackberry (BBRY) platforms as well as the pace of the value ramp up on Apple's (AAPL) iPhone. Comment! [Tech, Quick Ideas, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 22, 10:18 AM Apple's (AAPL +1.6%) bondholders have lost some $280.6M on paper (somewhat cleverly dubbed an "iLoss" by WSJ) since the debt was issued last month as speculation of QE tapering has sent 10-year Treasury yields climbing. Losses on the 10-year "iBond" sat at ~$137M through Tuesday as prices sunk to 97.377 cents on the dollar. The spread to Treasurys has also widened since issuance, Bloomberg says. 16 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, May 22, 8:08 AM Apple (AAPL) gains 1.1% premarket as Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty says iPhone sales are tracking at about 31M units in the June quarter, well ahead of her team's expectation of 26M and Street consensus of 27M. 7 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
Tuesday, May 21, 6:01 PM Apple (AAPL) roundup: 1) iOS 7 will reportedly feature integration with additional online services, including Flickr (YHOO) and video site Vimeo. Yesterday, Yahoo announced a big overhaul for Flickr. 2) Peter Misek remains downbeat, predicting Apple's gross margin will be pressured by its use of OGS touch sensor tech in the iPhone 6 (differs from the iPhone 5's in-cell tech), and by app processor price hikes from Samsung (checks indicate 25%-50% hikes). 3) As Senate hearings dominate headlines, EU leaders are looking to end the tax shelters Apple and other tech companies have created. 4) BrandZ again ranks Apple the world's most valuable brand; it's followed by Google IBM, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola. (Apple/Yahoo report) 12 Comments [Tech]
Tuesday, May 21, 11:52 AM Tim Cook (AAPL) testifies at a Senate hearing on corporate offshore taxes. "We don't depend on tax gimmicks," Cook asserts, while pushing for a big overhaul of U.S. corporate tax code. "Apple has always believed in the simple, not the complex." Sen. John McCain isn't satisfied with Apple's defenses, claiming the company "has violated the spirit of the law if not the letter of the law." Sen. Rand Paul has strongly defended Apple. "Congress should be on trial here for creating a byzantine tax code." (previous) 39 Comments [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 7:07 PM Loopholes allowed Apple (AAPL) to avoid $44B in U.S. taxes from 2009-2012, claims a Senate report released shortly after Apple's official statement. Though peers have also been accused of using offshore havens, the report argues Apple went further by creating a subsidiary (responsible for ~1/3 of profits from 2009-11) that used differences in U.S. and Irish law to have no residence whatsoever. Sen. Carl Levin calls this "the Holy Grail of tax avoidance." Also, while Apple claims $6B in FY12 federal tax payments, the report claims the real number is $2.4B if one backs out deferred payments on foreign cash (only paid if/when the cash is repatriated). 72 Comments [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 4:03 PM Apple (AAPL) releases Tim Cook's official statement (.pdf) to the Senate ahead of his Tuesday appearance at a hearing on corporate tax payments. Among other things, Apple claims it paid ~$6B in federal taxes in FY12 and a 30.5% effective federal tax rate, and that its foreign units don't engage in the practices the hearing focuses on (the shifting of IP to offshore havens, revolving loans from subsidiaries, etc). The company proposes a tax system that's "revenue neutral, eliminates all tax expenditures, lowers tax rates and implements a reasonable tax on foreign earnings." (previous) 44 Comments [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 2:03 PM Apple (AAPL +1.9%) roundup: 1) Brian White cites Chinese 3G growth as a reason for his $888 PT: he points out China's 3G sub base rose 83% Y/Y in April to 293.1M, and is expected to hit 375M-400M by year's end. China Mobile (CHL - previous) had 120M 3G subs; China Unicom (CHU) had 92M, and China Telecom (CHA) 81M. 2) Taiwan's Economic Times reports Apple is testing 1.5" OLED displays for an iWatch, and that "market rumors" indicate Foxconn has received iWatch trial production orders. 3) Digitimes reports MacBook orders are expected to grow 20% Q/Q in Q2, as Apple launches new systems sporting Intel Haswell CPUs at June's WWDC conference. 17 Comments [Tech]
Saturday, May 18, 6:23 PM 32% of Q1 U.S. smartphone sales involved prepaid phones, up from 21% a year ago, says NPD. That trend could spell trouble for AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD), whose recent growth has been heavily tied to selling costly postpaid data plans. With 72% and 61% of the carriers' postpaid bases now respectively on smartphones, they face pressure to gain prepaid buyers without cannibalizing postpaid subs. Cannibalization fears have led AT&T and Verizon to make their prepaid plans 3G-only; Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) offer 4G. A mix shift towards unsubsidized prepaid phones could also be a challenge for Apple (AAPL), estimated to have just 8% of the Q1 U.S. prepaid smartphone market (though that's up 4x Y/Y). 16 Comments [Tech]
Saturday, May 18, 11:57 AM "There are only four sources of high-quality maps," Google, Waze, Navteq, and TomTom (TMOAF.PK), says Rolfe Winkler, and given Facebook's rumored $1B acquisition of Waze, TomTom may become an attractive takeover target for the likes of Apple (AAPL) and others who, while able to drive a hard bargain on map licensing fees, may prefer to bid for the Netherlands-based company rather than worry that a rival will acquire it. TomTom trades at an EV/EBITDA ratio of just 6x. (From December: Rabobank puts AAPL/TomTom odds at 30%) 32 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Friday, May 17, 4:34 PM iRadio (AAPL) is "still bogged down in licensing talks," music industry sources tell The Verge's Greg Sandoval. In addition to Sony (already reported to have rejected Apple's licensing terms), BMG is said to be holding out for a better deal; one has reportedly been signed with Universal. Apple's interest in offering on-demand options not found on Pandora (P) and other Web radio services has reportedly complicated talks. Past reports stated Apple is aiming for a summer launch. 14 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 6:50 PM Apple (AAPL) roundup: 1) Tim Cook is set to testify before Congress during a hearing about corporate offshore cash. He's defending Apple in advance, and says the company will offer tax reform proposals. 2) Though a number of big hedge funds pared or unwound their Apple positions in Q1, the number of "top-tier" funds with positions held steady at 148, per Insider Monkey's analysis. 3) A couple of intriguing Apple patent applications: one for an iPhone-based e-wallet with transaction-specific "smart menus," and one for a large-display touch sensor panel meant to improve response times. 19 Comments [Tech]

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