jebmo’s posthaven

Technology companies will thrive from the hundreds of billions in cash parked outside the country coming into the U.S. this year, according to one Wall Street firm.

"With the Trump administration and Beltway imposing a 15.5% tax on [repatriated] cash earnings vs. the previous 35% tax rate we expect a surge of overseas cash to come back into the US with large cap tech being the clear beneficiary for 2018 and beyond," Daniel Ives, GBH Insights' head of technology research, wrote in a note to clients Thursday.

Ives estimates large U.S. technology firms have $550 billion to $600 billion parked overseas. He predicts the companies will repatriate $300 billion to $400 billion in 2018, with Apple representing $200 billion of that amount.

He noted more than 90 percent of the cash repatriated during a 2004 tax holiday was used for stock buybacks and dividends. However, Ives believes companies will use 70 percent this time for capital returns and use the remaining 30 percent for acquisitions, investment spending, research and development.

For Apple "we believe accelerated buybacks, another dividend hike, and potentially larger M&A will be the trifecta of benefits shareholders could expect to see in 2018," he wrote. "We strongly believe it is a ripe time for Cupertino to look ahead and make a bigger bet on a new growth area such as streaming video."