What happened
Shares of Apple (AAPL -0.05%) enjoyed a modest 2% pop at 11:15 a.m. ET Thursday after the computers and iPhones tech giant announced plans to switch to using only recycled cobalt in its device batteries by 2025.
So what
There are a couple of reasons why investors may be liking this latest Apple news. On one hand, it's a warm and fuzzy "save the planet" story as Apple moves to defuse criticism that the massive popularity of its devices is causing environmental issues by encouraging greater cobalt mining. Looking at the big picture, Apple is hoping to become entirely carbon-neutral by 2030, recycling not only cobalt, but also rare earth metals, tin soldering, gold plating, and even aluminum used in its products.
At the same time, this is an economic story for Apple. According to a 2022 report from MacroPolo.org, cobalt is the single most expensive component (by weight) of rechargeable batteries, costing close to $60 per kilogram in 2021 -- about twice the price of lithium. So in announcing that it will recycle all its cobalt, Apple is presumably also aiming to cut the cost of its products -- and boost its own profit margins.
Now what
Granted, just because Apple is recycling cobalt doesn't mean it's getting the recycled stuff for free. In fact, it may turn out that the cost of recycled cobalt is greater than the cost of buying newly mined cobalt. This remains to be seen -- and it's perhaps informative that in announcing its newest recycling initiative, Apple made no mention of cost savings.
That being said, the added "green" credentials of being a 100%-recycled consumer of cobalt should help to offset any additional cost for these consumers. For ESG-focused consumers (and investors), it could even turn into a deciding factor when choosing whether to buy an iPhone, for example, or an Android phone -- or whether to invest in Apple stock versus Samsung (SSNL.F -28.74%).
Factor in even the potential for cost savings as recycling technology improves over time, and this news looks like a plus for Apple -- maybe not big enough of a plus to justify paying 27 times earnings for a stock growing profits at only 8% per year, but a plus nonetheless.
