Rumor: New Mac minis and iMacs to be announced ahead of Apple stock split?
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
OK, this one has our BS meter beeping, not because it can’t/won’t happen, but because, as our faithful readers know, we have only received 1 legitimate anonymous tip in our whole stinking history.
Macenstein reader Kim Jramer says an impending stock split is in Apple’s future, and will be announced as early as next week, alongside updated iMacs and Mac minis.
While both iMacs and Mac minis are due for an update, and Apple’s stock is certainly ripe for a split (Apple stock last split at $80 in February of 2005), we caution anyone to put too much credence in this. We fully admit we are posting this merely because it is a slow news day, and we like to try to post something every day, if possible. Mr./Mrs. Jramer had no additional info on what the hardware updates would consist of, further shrinking the chance this is anything but educated (or not) guessing.
Back in January of this year, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster claimed Apple’s stock would split in the near future. At the time, Apple’s stock was about $82, and the analysts set a target price of $103. Today Apple’s stock hit a record $104.
Personally (and as an Apple stockholder), if there’s any financial news to be announced next week, I’d much rather see Apple announce the return of dividends. Those good old $0.12 dividends Apple used to pay out were nixed way back in October 1995. Now that Apple has a $12.6 billion pile of cash, it would seem the timing is right to reward the Mac faithful, 12 cents at a time. If you’re as bored as us, let us know what you think in the comments, or iChat us at macensteindotcom (we’re that bored).
[EDIT:] Apparently the “Kim Jramer” pseudonym is causing a lot of controversy here. For the record, WE made that name up for the tipster since it was a stock-related tip (trying to be funny). And we repeat, this is almost 100% bogus, so please don’t think this is Mad Money’s Jim Cramer offering advice on the side (although, I guess technically it COULD be him). We’d like to think he has more important things to do (and would have chosen a less incriminating pseudonym). While we would not be surprised to see a stock split, we think it would be coincidental to this tip.
I think Apple may be suffering from a little bit of Google-envy, and may be trying to keep its stock price high. I say no split. Maybe that Google guy they got on their board is having some influence.
I doubt with all the stock options scandal crap going on there they want to call any extra attention to their stock at the moment. Maybe in 3 months or so.
GOOG should split.
Stock split? That’s lovely. Bring on the new 30-inch black iMac with the 3Ghz Dual-Core Xeon, support for 4GB of RAM and a Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT (256MB) graphics card.
By-the-way, that should come standard with a 7200 RPM, 500GB Drive and optional Digital TV tuner, and can I hook-up my Dolby 5.1 Souround sound to it? Yes.
If the split is going to happen at all it would likely be at Thursday’s annual meeting, not next week.
Stock Splits are not always good. They can stagnate a stock and sometimes make it fall. That said, I do not think AAPL would have a problem with a stock split and would actually benefit from the extra shares.
That said, i’d like to see a dividend too. That would be nice. The $12.6 billion in cash you speak of translates to $14.55 per share, or 14% of the stock price as of close today. I’d like to see more than $.12 per share dividends, with continued growth. A thing to remember is that earnings will continue to grow as long as apple sits on large cash amounts and collects earnings off the cash, the same as compounding interest. Your earnings go up, because your capital goes up.
Anyhow, what happens happens. Expecting a stock split closer to $140-$150.
Personally I think the stock will split at around $110. I like the way you guys admitted it was a slow news day – I respect that.
Macenstein reader Kim Jramer? Sounds like Jim Cramer – stockpicker of Real Money. Bogus post!
Hey well I don’t know about the real validity of this rumor but there is a guy on MSNBC named Jim Kramer and he has a show called Mad Money. While it probably is just a coincidence this tipster’s name is Kim Jramer, Kramer would certainly have possible insider info on an upcoming split.
Who knows, this might just end up fueling the rumor even more, just thought I’d fill everyone in.
the stock is higher than $110 – its around $115 today –
Uh…Jim Kramer, perhaps?
I hope this “Kim Jramer” is a pseudonym – sorry for stating the obvious…
It’s clearly a play on words for CNBC analyst *J*im *C*ramer.
i got it at 42 so im loving life 🙂
kim jramer is just jim kramer (of mad money fame) with the first letters swapped
First, props for admitting it was a slow news day. I just added you guys to my RSS daily feed.
Second. I’ve got stock. I’d love to see dividends come back. Granted, I know as much about stock as I do politics… but hey… I bought in at around $80. If I think its going to split I’ll sell just before the split. Seems to me that when a stock splits it drops after the split, then goes back up.
Any one know if thats right or not? Anyways, I’m thinking that the stock will go through the roof when the iphone drops.
I’ll be buying Apple stock before the split. I love Option/CFD trading, so much profit of such a small capital base. Would like to have more money for long term investments, maybe if I gave up buying so many tech/computer products (like my pretty macbook) I would be able to. Oh well…
I think the google-apple relationship is closer that you’d imagine. apple is onto trends and sees the writing on the wall, and while ubuntu isn’t immediately a threat or as polished, it’s looking very promising. apple will miss the in-road to the serious corporate market unless it is escorted in by an embedded player. would have been hp maybe, would have been sun maybe, but for now it’s google. nobody does not take google seriously. so you noticed the delay on 10.5, due to the iphone? that’s because – speculating – iphone will be very google-centric, as ichat 4.0 seems to be already, and will depend practically on google services. whether it’s an all-out purchase of apple inc. or a very strong alliance, you’ll see OS X fully open sourced with big hardware partner support, ready to go into corporations. everyone will relax and 30% of MS revenue will transfer to google/apple and nobody will feel in-experienced one-vendor grief. time has come, it’s now or never in the next 12 months, and jobs isn’t getting any younger. just richer…
I love to see new imacs being announced. 🙂 It’s a shave that osx 10.5 will ship in October.
Kim Jramer = Jim Kramer?
thanks for revealing your source. “Kim Jramer” could be Jim Kramer on tv. He’s acknowledged manipulating stock prices in the past by spreading rumors. Take it for what it’s worth. He even mentions the Apple stock specifically in this clip.
http://videoplayer.thestreet.com/?clipId=1373_10329438&channel=Cramer+On+Demand&puc=&ts=1174686551750&bt=NS&bp=WIN&bst=FF&biec=true&format=flash&bitrate=300
Kim Jramer? Are U kidding? Not ‘Mad Money’ Kim Jramer?
As an Apple stock owner I say re-invest “excess cash” in R&D.
I like Kim Kungfu’s thinking. That machine would really kick it.
I suggest that Apple create a sub-$500 mac mini with power to compete head on with PCs.
Well, you can’t really update the mini without doing the iMac… but i thought the iMac might get those cool LED displays we’ve been reading about, and i think those are a month or 6 away from shipping… although, now with intels inside, updates SHOULD be more frequent and minor to keep up with the rest of the pack, so Apple doesn’t have to be a wait for new form factors or LEDs to release an update anymore I guess.
It would be lovely to receive some dividends, but I would be disappointed if Steve Jobs couldn’t find something new and interesting to invest the money in. Even opening a few new stores would be a good investment.
Here’s what I’d like to see:
1) A four-for-one split (typically individual investors by stocks in lots of 100, so this move would bring the cost of a 100-stock lot to the $2,500 to $3,000 range for the time being.)
2) Dividends in the form of Apple products and services. I’d probably be well on my way to the MacBook that would be a nice upgrade from this still usable nearly-six-year-old iBook.
Why would they raise the dividend? I don’t see any reason they would do that. They have a large upside potential and I think they plan to play out raising the value of their stock as much as possible.
Still no split, what is it now $130? And I disagree about the dividend, though I would love to see a larger than 2/1 split so I can buy alot more.