Brett Molina, and Alistair Barr

USATODAY

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple repurchased $14 billion of its own shares in recent weeks as the company continues to face pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn on a larger buyback.

The stock was repurchased in the two weeks since the company reported disappointing quarterly results, when Apple shares dropped a lot, according to an Apple spokeswoman.

During the first quarter, Apple announced lackluster iPhone sales growth and gave a second quarter outlook that fell short of Wall Street expectations. The shares slumped more than 7% after the announcement and have not rebounded much since. However, Apple seems to have used the declines to snap up more of its own shares, effectively making an investment in itself at lower prices.

"It means that we are betting on Apple," CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal, which reported the buyback late on Thursday. "It means that we are really confident on what we are doing and what we plan to do."

Apple shares rose 1.4% to $519.68 on Friday.

"It seems like the interview may be in part an attempt to remedy several inadequate answers on last week's fiscal first-quarter conference call that we believe many investors found disappointing," said Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Barclays.

The Cupertino, Calif., company has been pushed to issue a larger stock buyback since August, when Icahn boasted of his increasing stake in Apple. The investor's stake in Apple sits at $3.6 billion.

Icahn also issued a letter to shareholders last month imploring them to consider a sizable stock buyback.

On Friday, Icahn cheered Apple's recent buybacks and pushed for more.

"Keep buying Tim! You still have $145 billion cash" Icahn wrote on Twitter.

The company is also facing scrutiny from investors eager for Apple to launch their next innovative product. Cook says Apple is preparing to enter a new gadget arena beyond smartphones and tablets. "There will be new categories," says Cook. "We're not ready to talk about it, but we're working on some really great stuff."

Rumors have swirled in recent weeks on Apple's plans to work on a smartwatch. A job listing reportedly posted by Apple hints at the possibility of adding a health tracking feature to a wearable gadget. The company also met with the Food and Drug Administration to discuss mobile health apps.