Thursday Apple Rumors: Greenlight Capital Sues Apple

by Christopher Freeburn | February 7, 2013 12:47 pm

[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for today:

Sharing the Wealth: A hedge fund is suing Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL[3]), demanding that the company get more of its cash to shareholders[4], Reuters notes. Greenlight Capital, headed by David Einhorn, wants Apple to issue a perpetual preferred stock with a 4% yield. Einhorn has been critical of the company’s capital allocation policy, which has seen its cash balance exceed $100 billion. Einhorn argues that Apple shares are undervalued and that for every $50 billion in preferred stock Apple issues, its stock would gain about $32 a share. Einhorn has not revealed how he calculated that gain, but he said other shareholders would see his idea of perpetual preferred stock as a “win-win” scenario. Apple’s CFO recently told analysts the company was looking at ways to return some of its cash to shareholders.

On Top: According to market research firm Canalys, Apple is the leading maker of personal computers[5], PC Magazine notes. Canalys includes tablet computers in its calculations. On that basis, PC shipments during the fourth quarter jumped 12% compared to the prior year, hitting 134 million units. Apple shipped 27 million units during the quarter, 20% of total PC shipments; 22.9 million of those were iPads. Shipments of the company’s Mac computers fell during the quarter due to constrained supplies of updated models. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ[6]) was ranked second, topping Lenovo by a mere 200,000 units. Dell (NASDAQ:DELL[7]) slipped to fifth place behind Samsung.

iLoans? A patent application filed last week suggests that Apple is developing a person-to-person lending system for the iPhone[8], CBCNews notes. In its filing with the U.S. Patent Office, Apple outlined an “ad-hoc cash dispensing network” that would allow iPhone users to post a request for cash. Other iPhone users in the same geographic area can then decide whether to provide a loan. If an agreement is reached, the parties can meet in person to exchange electronic funds via their iPhones. The transactions would be made using Bluetooth or other short-range signals. Lenders would receive a fee for money lent, which they would then split with Apple. Of course, a patent application doesn’t mean the service will actually be implemented.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[9] stories.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/02/thursday-apple-rumors-greenlight-capital-sues-apple/

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