the Wall St logic is that since Apple are not spending the cash and it is just sitting there and earning almost nothing then you are better off giving it back t

the Wall St logic is that since Apple are not spending the cash and it is just sitting there and earning almost nothing then you are better off giving it back to investors to invest for themselves (buying t-bills isn't hard, we can do that ourselves). the century old idea of stocks (and what buffet et al subscribe to) is about generating a yield from profits. the secondary effect is that now those types of investors will buy into Apple since it yields a dividend, like a good old blue chip stock should (which in-turn raises demand for the stock, which in-turn raises the share price - meaning the cash is being put to better use).