CNBC’s Jon Fortt outside Building 4
FORTUNE — Apple’s (AAPL) annual shareholders meeting was held Wednesday in Building 4 at the company’s Cupertino campus.
What follows is what we were able to glean by monitoring the tweets, texts and cable TV. As we predicted, CEO Tim Cook announced neither an increased dividend, an accelerated buyback program or a stock split. I suspect we’ll hear something from Apple about the first two before long. I’ll leave speculation about the latter to the day traders.
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1:08 TD Ameritrade news feed reports reports that CEO Tim Cook has concluded the meeting. And that, apparently, is a wrap.
1:04 More notes from the laptop of CNBC’s Jon Fortt. “Cook: ‘I strongly believe it [Einhorn lawsuit] was a silly sideshow, regardless of how the judge ruled …. I don’t think the issue of returning cash to shareholders is silly — we’re seriously considering it.’ iPad mini cannibalizing: If we don’t cannibalize, someone else will. We take a long view.”
1:03 Apple shares down below $443
1:03 Wall Street Journal summary mentions stock split rumor: “At the meeting, Apple didn’t mention any plan to split the company’s stock. Rumors had begun to swirl Tuesday that Apple would announce such a move, which world be first in eight years.”
12:58 TD Ameritrade news feed reports that Cook once again called Einhorn’s lawsuit “silly” and said Apple is in “very very active” discussions about cash.
12:47 A report out of the CNBC live blog that looks like it’s Fortt’s unedited notes: “First question: What are you going to do about Android and Samsung gaining market share?
Cook: We’re not constraining our investment in R&D by a desire to grow a cash pile. We stay very focused and work on a few things. … The real market share numbers are hard to come by. … It is clear that Android is on a lot of phones … it is probably true that iOS is on a lot more tablets …. Success is not making the most. … Where market share is important (is in being big enough to attract an ecosystem) …. We’re really aware of the competition as well. “We don’t have our heads stuck up … stuck in the sand. …. There’s a button or two we could press to make the most …. That would not be good for Apple.”
12:47 CNBC rattles off some headlines from Fortt. Cook said “Obviously we’re looking a new categories, but we’re not talking about them.” Said Apple grew by about $40 billion more than Google, Microsoft, HP, Amazon, Nokia, Dell, BlackBerry & Nokia combined. Also rattled off some stats about China sales.
12:45 @PeteO on StockTwits quotes Cook: Apple sales in China: $24B, “Larger than any technology company in the United States that we’re aware of”
12:44 TD Ameritrade news feed reports that Cook said that Apple is not constraining R&D in order to conserve cash.
12:41 Team Fortt reports that the formal meeting has adjourned and Cook is taking questions, which is probably where the last couple of comments came from.
12:41 MarketWatch reports that Apple said it’s committed to reviving the shareholder proposal that it had to withdraw after David Einhorn’s lawsuit. A Calpers rep spoke in favor of it.
12:32 Reuters reports Cook said he knows shareholders are “disappointed” with the stock’s performance, a word that is not being well received on Twitter.
12:32 TD Ameritrade news feed reports that Cook says “I don’t like it either” when asked about Apple’s stock price falling. Says he’s “focused on the long term” and has some “great stuff coming.”
12:29 CNBC’s Jon Fortt summarizes preliminary results:
—All directors reelected
—Accounting firm approved
—Say on pay approved
—Executive stock retention fails (Apple recommended a no vote)
—Human Rights committee fails (Apple recommended a no vote)
12:29 TD Ameritrade news feed reports rejected proposal about executives holding shares (I’ll have to look at the Proxy to see what that was about)
12:27 TD Ameritrade news feed reports that Apple’s board has been re-elected. Reuters says Cook got 99.1% of the votes.
12:26 Stock back down below $446. Volatility, thy name is Apple.
12:23 Stock just popped to $452.44 on no visible news. (Sorry about earlier typo.)
12:22 Meeks on CNBC is talking up iTV. Sigh.
12:19 Ernst & Young and Exec compensation motions for approval made without comment.
12:19 Tweet from the overflow room reports that shareholders can post questions there via iPad.
12:17 CNBC is doing a spot on what investors want to hear. Paul Meeks of Saturna Capital says he will be disappointed if Cook does’t at least hint that he will be increasing dividend or stock buy back.
12:16 TD Ameritrade news feed reports Cook said majority voting on preferred shares will be coming in the future.
12:12 Reuters’ Eddie Chan posts that Cook’s Q&A will come at the end of the meeting. Which is standard operating procedure.
12:11 Apple just dropped about $3.
12:07 Ballots being passed out.
12:02: CNBC live blog reports that CEO Tim Cook has started the proceedings. Plays for laughs by introducing board member Al Gore as the inventor of the Internet
11:45: Reuters live bloggers discover that iPhones are not allowed inside.
10:41: Coffee and donuts being served.
Apple opened at $448.97 near its 52-week low Wednesday, moved briefly into positive territory with the broader market, and was back in red shortly before noon. It hit its intraday low, $440.65, three minutes after the meeting ended. The stock closed at $444.57, down $4.40 (0.98%) for the day.
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