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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1339792
largely go unrewarded because the return on it would have been minimal, negligible. Not to mention also the target it would paint on the company’s balance sheet. So given the trajectory in net cash being so consistent, it’s probable that the goal of net zero will be reached mid 2023. That leaves the question of what will happen at that time? The answer is nothing. Nothing will happen. The capital return programs will probably be ended and additional cash generation will be paid as dividends going forward. That’s it. Rather than suggesting a change, the capital return program (and the R&D program) suggest a lack of change, consistency. The company management is anticipating a steady capital generation rate, a steady product roadmap (with predictable growth) and a steady customer base (with predictable loyalty). This future for Apple in 2023 may seem boring. But that’s exactly the plan. This is a plan that the company management has been making for a long time and has been executing for a long time. The plan is to be boring on the business side but exciting on the customer product side. Consistency has been the characteristic trait of the Tim Cook era. It is a smoothing of seasonality with services. It is the clockwork delivery of product updates, regardless of macro and externalities. It is a growth in user base consistent for a decade. It is perhaps because more people believe that consistency is the future that we have Apple’s P/E ratio now in-line with its peers. Paradoxically, being boring is what makes Apple shares so exciting today.