What Should Apple Inc. (AAPL) Do With All That Cash?

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Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) also has a long history of returning cash to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividend hikes. In fact, the low-cost retailer just announced an 18% increase in its dividend in its last quarterly statement.

The company has reduced share count by 1/4 and raised its dividend by over 340% in the last ten years. Earnings and revenues have also significantly increased. Wal-Mart has stated that sales might be flat in the short-term based upon the aftermath of the “fiscal cliff” and a jump in gasoline prices. The typical shopper has less cash on hand due to an increase in the payroll tax and a delay in tax processing by the IRS.

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So it looks like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will have to deal with Mr. Einhorn and shareholders may get to vote on his proposal to issue iPref stock as a means to return value to shareholders. Based upon the experience of some other big companies it might not be such a bad thing.

The article What Should Apple Do With All That Cash? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Mark Morelli.

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