...SAN FRANCISCO (S&P Global Ratings) May 2, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings on Apple Inc. (##+/Stable/A-1+) are not immediately affected by an update the company is making to its capital return program. The update will increase its share repurchase authorization by $100 billion and raise its dividends by 16%. This is in line with Apple's earlier announcement that it plans to reduce its cash balances and become approximately net cash neutral over time, although the company did not provide timeline for this transition. We view Apple's intention to become net cash neutral as a shift in its financial policy, as we had previously expected the company to maintain significant surplus cash position. Our assessment of Apple's financial risk profile is a key consideration for our rating and reflects Apple's large surplus cash position and cash flow generation. However, our outlook on Apple is stable at this time. Reducing cash levels to a net cash neutral position without a large...
