SM: Apple to Announce Plans for $100...

Apple (AAPL) Inc. shareholders are about to get an answer to one of their most pressing questions: What will the technology giant do with its roughly $100 billion in cash?

The Cupertino, Calif., company said late Sunday that it will hold a conference call Monday morning to disclose what it plans to do with the huge cash pile, of which shareholders have been increasingly demanding a piece.

Also See

• When Will Apple Hit $1,000 a Share?
• Apple's Giant Portfolio (and Tiny Yield)

At Apple's annual shareholder meeting in February, Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company had been thinking about its cash "very deeply," and is actively discussing strategies for managing it with the company's board. "It's a lot," he added. "It's more than we need to run the company."

Some investors have said they expect Apple to issue a dividend, according to people familiar with the matter. That would amount to a big shift for a company that has regularly argued that it needed its cash to secure component supplies for its gadgets. Shareholders have consistently lobbied the company for a recurring solution, as opposed to a one-time buyback or dividend.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond Sunday's media alert announcing Monday's conference call.

As of the end of December, Apple's cash, cash equivalents and short-term and long-term marketable securities totaled roughly $97.6 billion, more than the market capitalizations of all but 52 publicly traded companies at the time. That's up from the $59.7 billion in cash that Apple had on its balance sheet the year before.

Monday's announcement, which will be made by Mr. Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer, will end months of speculation about whether Apple will take a new approach to cash and how dramatic it will be. Since becoming CEO in August, Mr. Cook has signaled he would consider more options for the cash stockpile than his predecessor, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who had been opposed to stock buybacks and dividends, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple's stock has risen sharply in recent months, in anticipation of a change in the company's approach, and as it has posted quarterly revenue and profit records on brisk iPhone and iPad sales. The shares closed at $585.57 Friday, up 45% since the start of the year.

If Apple initiates a dividend, it would join a large number of cash-rich tech companies that have yielded to investor demand for dividends over the years, including Microsoft (msft) Corp., Cisco Systems (csco) Inc. and Oracle (orcl) Corp. While some have done so as their growth rates matured and opportunities for investment diminished, investors still expect Apple to grow quickly but want it to return cash to shareholders, because it is generating significantly more than it needs.