Why Does Apple Care About Its Share Price?

Beset by critics and bedeviled by a declining stock price, Tim Cook, the companyâ??s beleaguered chief executive, announced a big stock buyback and a substantial dividend increase. The market did not, however, respond by pushing up Appleâ??s stock price. But these actions do raise the question why Apple, which has too much cash on its books and is trying desperately to return cash to its shareholders, a company unlikely ever again to need to raise money in the public markets, should worry so much about its share price anyway?