Comment Re:When I was a boy... (Score 1) 301
Exactly. The whole point of owning shares is to receive a part of the profits (dividends). Stock buy backs is also a way to reward stock owners since it increases the value of the remaining stocks.
The only reason to buy stocks in a non-dividend paying company is if you believe:
1. The company will grow and invest a lot and once their profits have multiplied they will pay huge dividends making up for the lost time.
2. A bigger fool will come along and buy your shares once the price has increased a lot.
This is a sound move of Apple. If they had continued refusing to pay dividends despite HUGE profits, all their investors would have to hope for (2). The question now is of course if the payoff is enough to motivate the share price ($500 per share, $2.65 quarterly, $10 bn buy back etc) but I leave that as an exercise for the reader...