IT News on November 6th: According to the preliminary prospectus disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 5th, Apple plans to issue seven tranches of bonds, with the market expecting a financing scale of approximately $7 billion (Note from IT: The current exchange rate is about 46.778 billion RMB).
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Apple has returned to the bond market after a year and a half, with the funds obtained to be used for stock repurchases and dividend payments, among other things. This news has now been confirmed. It will be the company's first bond issuance since it raised $4.5 billion (about 30.071 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in May 2025; if the final amount reaches $7 billion (about 46.778 billion yuan at current exchange rates), it will be $2.5 billion (about 16.706 billion yuan) more than the previous round.
The bonds to be issued this time include two floating-rate notes and five fixed-rate notes, with maturities ranging from 2028 to 2036. The interest rate of the floating-rate notes is linked to the guaranteed overnight financing rate ( SOFR ) and is adjusted quarterly; the fixed-rate notes pay interest twice a year. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities, and JPMorgan Chase act as underwriters.
Apple stated that the funds raised will be used for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases, dividend payments, working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and repayment of existing debts, but did not disclose the specific amounts for each purpose.
It is worth noting that Apple is not short of cash. The company's latest financial report shows that its revenue for the September quarter reached $114.5 billion (approximately 765.149 billion yuan at current exchange rates), with an operating cash flow of $28 billion (approximately 187.111 billion yuan at current exchange rates); by the end of the 2026 fiscal year, Apple held a total of $136.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities (approximately 914.838 billion yuan at current exchange rates), and had a free cash flow of about $136.1 billion for the entire year (approximately 909.492 billion yuan at current exchange rates).
Tech media AppleInsider interprets this debt issuance as more of a financial strategy. In fiscal year 2026, Apple repurchased $85.8 billion (approximately 573.361 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in shares and paid out $15.7 billion (about 104.916 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in dividends and dividend equivalents. Additionally, in April, Apple approved a new repurchase plan with a maximum amount of $100 billion (about 668.252 billion yuan at current exchange rates). By issuing debt at low costs, Apple can continue to reward its shareholders while maintaining cash reserves for future investments or to cope with market changes.
Apple will have about $10 billion (about 66.825 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in bond principal maturing in the coming year, in addition to $2 billion (about 13.365 billion yuan at current exchange rates) in short-term commercial paper that needs to be repaid. New bonds may also be used for debt refinancing to help the company optimize its maturity structure and reduce the pressure of concentrated payments.
