Apple has filed (http://tinyurl.com/q3euqjw) to sell $5 billion worth of floating rate and fixed-rate notes. The floating-rate notes are due 2020, and the fixed-rate notes due 2020, 2022, 2025, and 2045.
Pricing hasn’t been set yet. Goldman and Deutsche are underwriting. Given Apple’s huge cash balance, and its history with such offerings, buybacks are a likely use of the proceeds, notes Seeking Alpha (www.seekingalpha.com). Apple’s cash/marketable securities balance totaled $178 billion at the end of fiscal quarter one of 2015 (much of it offshore), and its debt balance stood at $36.4 billion.
The company spent $5 billion. on buybacks during the quarter. Apple has spent $73 billion on them over the history of its $130 billion capital return program.
