Apple

Apple Inc. will spend an unprecedented $100 billion to buy back shares and increase its dividend - a not-so-subtle attempt to appease jittery investors who have seen the company's stock plunge by nearly half in recent months. Although the announcement was intended to send a signal of how strongly executives believe in Apple's future, it came on the heels of an earnings report that included the company's first profit drop in a decade. The mixed messages about Apple's prospects left investors torn about how to feel about everything they learned Tuesday.

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company typically showcases the next versions of its mobile and Mac operating systems, has been set for June 10-14. At the conference, Apple is expected to unveil the next generation operating system for the iPhone and the iPad, iOS 7, as well as the next version of its Mac computers' operating system, which could be called Mac OS X 10.9. From time to time, Apple also uses WWDC to introduce users to new products. Last year, Apple announced the MacBook Pro with Retina display, a high-end laptop with an ultra-high resolution display, and in 2010, the company used the conference to announce the iPhone 4. There's no word yet on what, if anything, Apple may announce this year.

Apple's stock is on a tear following the electronics giant's announcement it would buy back $60 billion in stock and boost its dividend 15% to $3.05 a share. The huge buyback plan and dividend increase eclipsed a somewhat disappointing second-quarter earnings report in which profit dipped for the first time in a decade. The company also forecast that its earnings in the current quarter would be lower. Apple shares are up more than $20 to $426.79 in after-hours trading. The stock closed at $406.13, up $7.64, in regular trading.

When it comes to Apple's earnings, you can always bank on absolutely never hearing about the things you most want to hear about. Apple TV? IWatch? Cheaper iPhone? IRadio? Forget any mention of future goodies.  PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013   What's left is to sort through a lot of numbers, reading them for signs that support and refute your position that Apple is either vastly undervalued or doomed to become tech's next dinosaur.  Either way, here are five things to watch when Apple releases its earnings report Tuesday after the stock markets close:  1. Margins: The reason that Apple is Apple is not just that it sells boatloads of stuff, but that it sells boatloads of stuff at premium prices.

Apple releases its eagerly awaited second-quarter earnings Tuesday, and by most accounts, it's unlikely that anything the company says will alleviate growing shareholder doubts about its growth prospects. Not only is Apple expected to post an earnings decline for the first time in a decade, but some analysts believe the company will lower its outlook for the current quarter as growth in sales of iPhones and iPads slows in the face of stronger competition and a market that's less enchanted by its latest offerings.

Apple released its second-quarter earnings Tuesday, but investors were more excited by the company's eye-popping $60-billion stock buyback. The buyback goes down as the largest share repurchase in history, funded by Apple's massive cash hoard, which currently stands at about $145 billion. Apple also announced that its board of directors had approved a 15% increase in the company's quarterly dividend and has declared a dividend of $3.05 per common share, payable May 16, to shareholders of record as of the close of business May 13. "We are very fortunate to be in a position to more than double the size of the capital return program we announced last year," Chief Executive Tim Cook said.

Apple released its fiscal second-quarter earnings, reporting better-than-expected revenue but the first year-over-year quarterly profit decline since 2003. The company posted profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 a share, and revenue of $43.6 billion. During the same quarter last year, Apple reported profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30, on revenue of $39.2 billion. Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared with 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter. IPad sales totaled 19.5 million compared with 11.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Siri isn't just a pretty voice with the answers. It's also been recording and keeping all the questions users ask. Exactly what the voice assistant does with the data isn't clear, but Apple confirmed that it keeps users' questions for up to two years. Siri, which needs to be connected to the Internet to function, sends all of its users' queries to Apple. Apple revealed the information after Wired posted an article this week raising the question and highlighting the fact that the privacy statement for Siri wasn't very clear about how long that information is kept or what would be done with it. Technically Apple keeps Siri user data for six months, associating that data with the user.

With cellular service in Boston jammed in the aftermath of the marathon explosions this week, many people were left scrambling for ways to let loved ones know they were safe and to search for information on family and friends. Social networks and other websites became the go-to solutions in many cases, as scores of people posted updates saying they were unharmed and offering firsthand accounts and photographs from the scene. Because the Internet wasn't affected, Boston residents used Facebook and Twitter to reach out to large numbers of people at once; they also turned to Apple Inc.'s iMessage, Skype and Google Inc.'s Voice.

Investors hammered Apple's stock Thursday, sending shares down 2.81% in midday trading. This was the second day of pummeling for Apple's stock, as investors' nerves appeared increasingly rattled in the countdown to the company's earnings report scheduled for Tuesday.  Story: Apple takes investors on a wild ride The stock was down $11.33 to $391.47 on Thursday.  On Wednesday, investors drove the stock down...