Will Apple Investors Be Celebrating The Yearly Dividend Hike Day On Tuesday?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is scheduled to report its fiscal second-quarter results after Tuesday's market close, and with it, possibly a dividend hike.

According to a CNBC report, Apple has historically updated its dividend payout in its fiscal second-quarter report, especially after committing to a regular dividend increase "going forward" in its second-quarter report last year.

Apple may feel the pressure to do something about its dividend, which is currently yielding around 1.6 percent — a figure that is well below its peak of around 2.4 percent and also short of the 1.9 percent yield seen in the S&P 500 and its corresponding ETFs like iShares S&P 500 Index (ETF) (NYSE:IVV) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY).

CFRA Research's analyst Angelo Zino told CNBC dividends and stock buybacks will be the "focus" of the earnings report and conference call. The analyst also reiterated "no one will really care" about the iPhone sales metrics ahead of the iPhone 8 launch later on this year.

RBC Capital's analyst Amit Daryanani even went so far as to suggest in a research report earlier this year that Apple could afford to pay a dividend that implies a 4 percent. However, Zino told CNBC this may be too aggressive and Apple prefers to play it safe with dividend hikes rather than satisfy the more aggressive demands from the Street.

Should Apple Investors Still Care About Slumping iPhone Demand?

AAPLApple Inc

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IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF

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SPYState Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

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