Apple Shareholders Receive Latest Dividend Payout

Apple Inc. distributed its regular quarterly cash dividend to shareholders on February 12, 2026, continuing an unbroken streak of payments that has lasted for more than ten years. This distribution comes as investor confidence strengthens following the technology giant's record-breaking quarterly results.

The dividend payment follows the announcement of impressive figures for the first fiscal quarter of 2026 on January 29. The company reported substantial growth across key metrics:
- Revenue reached $143.8 billion, a 16% increase year-over-year.
- Earnings per share came in at $2.84, marking a 19% rise.
- The iPhone business and Services segment both achieved record sales.
- The installed base of active devices now exceeds 2.5 billion globally.

Demand for the iPhone notably surged, with business growing by 23% compared to the previous year, even outstripping supply in several key markets.

Dividend and Capital Return Details

Shareholders of record as of February 9, 2026, received a cash dividend of $0.26 per share. Apple's current dividend yield stands at approximately 0.38%. The company maintains a deliberately modest yield, reflecting a capital allocation strategy that prioritizes share repurchases over dividend payments.

This approach was evident throughout fiscal 2025, during which Apple returned a total of $106.1 billion to its shareholders. This sum comprised:
- $90.7 billion allocated to share buybacks.
- $15.4 billion distributed as dividends.
- This equates to a payout ratio of 13.06%.

The most recent dividend marks a 4% increase from the previous quarterly payment of $0.25 per share, a raise authorized by the board in May 2025.

Market Reaction and Financial Health

The positive earnings report fueled a share price advance. Apple's stock climbed from $273.68 on February 10 to $279.66 by February 11, a single-day gain of 2.19%. Earlier in the month, the equity recorded its most significant outperformance relative to the Nasdaq Composite index in over a year.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Apple?

The company's capacity to sustain and grow its dividend rests on a foundation of exceptional financial strength:
- Operating cash flow for 2025 was $111.5 billion.
- Free cash flow amounted to $98.8 billion.
- The operating margin remains robust at 35.4%.

Cautious AI Roadmap Faces Hurdles

Amidst massive artificial intelligence infrastructure investments by its peers, Apple has projected capital expenditures of around $13 billion for 2026. This comparatively restrained spending plan has been viewed favorably by many investors.

However, the development of a planned major upgrade for its Siri assistant is encountering delays. Internal testing has revealed issues, including incorrect processing of some user queries and unacceptably long response times. Features initially slated for a single release with iOS 26.4 in March are now expected to be rolled out incrementally across several future updates. Some functionalities may not be available until iOS 26.5 in May, or even with iOS 27 in September 2026.

The core capability intended to allow Siri to compete more directly with rivals like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini is, according to current planning, not scheduled for release until iOS 27.

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