(News Bulletin 247) – The Court of Justice of the European Union has delivered a verdict that requires the company to repay undue aid of 13 billion euros to Ireland. The group indicated that it would take a charge of approximately 10 billion dollars in its quarter ended September 28.

The slate is getting clearer for Apple. This Tuesday, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest legal authority on the Old Continent, issued a judgment that forces the Cupertino group to reimburse 13 billion euros to Ireland in undue aid.

Reminder: in 2016, the European Commission ordered Apple to return this sum to Dublin, calling into question a “ruling” (tax ruling in French).

Brussels accused Dublin of having validated a tax arrangement by Apple on transfer prices that allowed the American group to send the majority of its profits to a “headquarters” which according to the Commission “was not subject to tax in any country under specific provisions of Irish tax law”. Brussels had ultimately considered that Ireland had granted tax advantages that amounted to illegal state aid.

Both Apple and Dublin had appealed the decision, which was overturned, before the European Commission appealed to the CJEU, which ruled in favour of the Commission.

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The market is not panicking

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, Apple detailed the impact of the move. The company said it expects to record a one-time income tax charge of about $10 billion in its fourth quarter of fiscal 2023-24, a period that ends on September 28.

On Wall Street, the announcement did not cause panic on the market side. Apple shares fell 1.2% around 6:15 p.m.

The stock also reacted little to the announcement, on Monday evening, of the iPhone 16, its highly anticipated new smartphone, designed for artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities, which should boost the company’s sales and demonstrate that the group is in the right pack for the AI ​​race.

The stock closed stable on Monday evening, with the presentation (“keynote”) not holding any major surprises for investors.

Perhaps it’s just a matter of timing. Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst known for his optimism, believes that this phone will trigger a major “upgrade cycle,” meaning that users will trade in their old iPhones for the iPhone 16, attracted by its new AI features.

“We continue to see indications in the Asian supply chain that this iPhone upgrade cycle could be historic and set the stage for a supercycle. Indeed, we estimate that around 300 million iPhones worldwide have not been upgraded in over 4 years,” he explains. “We expect Apple to sell over 240 million iPhones in fiscal 2025 as this AI-driven upgrade cycle unfolds,” the specialist concludes.