Six top Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) executives racked up 87,578 restricted stock units worth about $10 million, which have now vested as part of an award granted in 2014. On Tuesday, the U.S. SEC published multiple filings reporting that the vested stock awards date back to March 3, 2014 when Apple awarded the execs 44,912 RSUs (later adjusted for Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s seven-for-one stock split).
AAPL’s top executives net nearly $10m each
Executives included in the 44,912 RSU incentive plan are SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, COO Jeff Williams, SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, SVP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio, SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, and SVP and General Counsel Bruce Sewell. A target number of 7,749 RSUs were granted to SVP and CFO Luca Maestri, which were converted to 10,694 vested shares last week, notes Apple Insider.
Zero to 200% of the RSUs were set to vest on Oct. 1, depending on the total shareholder return (TSR) relative to other S&P 500 companies between Sept. 29, 2013, and Sept. 24, 2016, just like past performance-based awards.
Each executive was required to help Apple Inc. (AAPL) achieve a relative TSR performance ranked at or above the 85th percentile for companies listed in the S&P 500 in order to see their respective awards in full. If Apple Inc. (AAPL) succeeded in securing a rank above the 55th percentile or 25th percentile, then a respective 100% or 25% of the target RSUs would have vested.
Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s TSR is pegged at 69.27% for the three-year period between 2013 and 2016, putting the company in 77th place or the 83rd percentile among the 458 companies included in the S&P 500, notes the report.
To satisfy tax laws, the iPhone maker withheld 43,809 shares from awards that Sewell, Williams, Riccio, Cue, Schiller and Federighi received. The same was done for 5,371 shares of Maestri’s award. Cue, Schiller and Williams had their shares transferred to family trusts, while other executives kept their vested bonuses in caches of directly-owned Apple Inc. (AAPL) stock.
Better-than-expected holiday season for AAPL
RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani believes Apple Inc. (AAPL) could have a better-than-expected holiday season. In a note, Daryanani noted that Apple Inc. (AAPL) supplier Dialog Semiconductor pre-announced positive September quarter results on the back of mobile systems revenue, suggesting the iPhone maker could place strong component orders.
For the past quarter, Dialog raised revenue expectations by 13% to $345 million from the previous range $290 million to $320 million. Dialog failed to delve into specifics, but it did say the revenue bump is, in part, the result of mobile systems orders being pulled forward into the third quarter to accommodate China’s National Day holiday on Oct. 1.
Dialog generates 75% to 80% of its mobile systems revenue from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and usually builds iPhones approximately 60 days out. This means the pulled-in orders are likely related to the December quarter, notes Daryanani. Along with Dialog’s report, Daryanani also talked about a few other factors that will help the U.S. firm report strong year-end numbers.
On Wednesday, Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares closed up 0.04% at $113.05. Year to date, the stock is up more than 5%, while in the last year, it is up more than 2%.
