You buy a share in a company because that gives you ownership over a corresponding share of their earnings, in perpetuity, whether they pay dividends or not. I

You buy a share in a company because that gives you ownership over a corresponding share of their earnings, in perpetuity, whether they pay dividends or not. In Apple’s case, you’d now have to pay 136 dollars in order to be entitled to 3.7 dollars of their annual earnings, corresponding to a current annual return rate of 2.7%. That’s better than any bank accounts, and it will most likely rise faster than inflation. This is how the stock market works and how people value mature companies.