AAPL

AAPL takes heat on missing China Mobile deal, talks still underway

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The Wall Street Journal earlier this month asserted that China Mobile and Apple had finally cut a lucrative distribution agreement that would put the iconic smartphone on the world's largest mobile network with more than 759 million subscribers, or more than twice the U.S. population.

China Mobile Shanghai’s website has even offered iPhone 5s/5c pre-orders as the giant wireless operator is gearing up to launch its new 4G TD-LTE mobile network in the 1.33 billion people country, Apple's second-largest market by revenue.

But alas, the deal hasn't materialized although the WSJ story suggested that Apple and China Mobile would announce the iPhone agreement "around December 18".

With no deal in sight, shares of Apple dropped nearly two percent in early trading Wednesday, with the carrier confirming to Reuters that it's still in talks with Apple. And so the cat-and-mouse game continues...

Icahn pushes Apple to buy back stock ASAP

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 1, 2017

If you run a multi-billion dollar corporation and your secretary tells you activist investor Carl Icahn is on line 2, the very thought of that should send chills up your spine. Icahn is known for his ominous "increase shareholder value" mantra and stops at nothing to put forward massive corporate stock buyback programs, even pushing for board and CEO changes if need be.

Yesterday, Icahn tweeted he "just sent a letter to Tim Cook" concerning Apple's buyback program. And now, the contents of the letter has been published on his newly launched website called the Shareholders' Square Table.

Should Tim Cook be worried? Read on...

Google more valuable than Apple – if you exclude cash

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2013

For years, the media has been keen to compare companies based on their market capitalization. The metric itself is pretty fluke, but it makes for nice headlines - especially if the topic of reporting is Apple. Earlier this year, for example, much noise was made about Apple passing the oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world's most valuable corporation by market capitalization.

Having said that, it really shouldn't be surprising big media is now reporting that the Internet giant Google recently "passed" Apple to become the world's most valuable technology corporation. The bold claim comes with a caveat: you have to stretch your definition of market cap and strip out some key metrics...

AAPL dips below $400B, Buffett tells Cook to ignore cash complaints, buy back stock

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

You can't get a better financial advisor than Warren Buffett. The so-called 'Oracle of Omaha' Monday weighed in on what Apple should do, faced with low stock prices and one investor's call to use the iPhone maker's billions in cash. Although Buffett's appearance Monday morning on CNBC lasted three hours, the short version is this:

Apple CEO Tim Cook should buy his company's stock while cheap. It's uncertain whether the financial whiz will have any luck, seeing Cook's predecessor Steve Jobs supposedly ignored similar advice. Coincidentally or not, Apple’s market capitalization dropped below $400 billion in early trading Monday, the first such drop since January 2012...

AAPL for a second time passes Exxon, GOOG hits new all-time high

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 1, 2013

Look, these things are not the be-all, end-all for business performance, but obviously market capitalization reflects investors' expectations concerning Apple's future performance. The iPhone maker last Friday hit a 52-week low and as a result ceded its top spot as the world's most-valued publicly traded corporation to the oil giant Exxon.

AAPL shares have slowly been recovering since and today has surpassed the oil conglomerate for a second time in after-hours trading. The Cupertino firm now leads Exxon with a $10 billion market cap difference, but is Apple's valuation sustainable in the long run?

Analyst: remember Steve – Apple’s best days lie ahead

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 17, 2013

A Wall Street analyst Wednesday gave investors a pep talk, invoking the words of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs to point out the iPhone maker is hardly ready to head for the exit. Instead, Topeka Capital Market analyst Brian White issued a record target price for a stock battered by negative headlines.

"The negative sentiment around the stock has reached epic levels that we haven't seen in recent memory and yet we believe [Apple's] product portfolio has never been stronger", White said in an investment note. He also quoted Jobs in response to naysayers who recently came out of the woodwork spelling doom for Apple...

AAPL tanks below $500 on ‘weaker than expected’ iPhone 5 demand rumor

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

AAPL fell briefly below $500 this morning following The Wall Street Journal and the Nikkei newswire reports of the iPhone 5 part orders halved amid what's being claimed a 'weaker-than-expected' global demand for the handset. Specifically, shares briefly sank to $497 in pre-market trading Monday as investors reacted to the news.

It's the first time since February 2012 that AAPL tanked below $500 a share. AAPL lost nearly 26 percent since a September 2012 all-time high of $705.07 a share. In the last three months alone, the Apple stock lost seventeen percent of its value. Rival Samsung seized its opportunity, having released this morning official numbers proving flourishing sales of its Galaxy S smartphone series, which surpassed the accumulated sales record of 100 million units (from the supply side) since its launch in May 2010...

Analysts cut AAPL target price average to $740

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

All of the concerns voiced about the impending leap off the 'fiscal cliff' and its associated increase in capital gains taxes on stock sales have sent Wall Street into a tizzy. The end result: knocking Apple's target share price down to $740. Nearly a dozen analysts have cut their target price for Apple stock amid talk that the iPhone maker has a dodgy future, what with supply questions hanging over the executives at One Infinity Loop. Despite all the rain clouds, the $740 per share target price reduction is about $225 more than Friday's opening on Wall Street...

Here’s why AAPL hit 10-month low today

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 14, 2012

China's influence over Apple's financial health is growing. In fiscal 2011, the country accounted for sixteen percent of Apple's revenues. But is Apple's growth in China sustainable?

Friday, two analyst reduce forecasts amid what one described as a 'muted' response to today's iPhone 5 release in the world's largest market. As a result, Apple shares fell 3.9 percent to a ten-month low.

The decline also hurt a number of Apple's suppliers as the firm is thought to be cutting orders in order "to balance excess inventory". For example, Broadcom is down 3.13 percent and Qualcomm dropped 4.7 percent.

As a result, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek cut his iPhone shipment estimate for the first three months of 2013 to 48 million, down from 52 million. He also trimmed Apple's expected gross profit margin to 40 percent, down two percentage points...

Apple’s Technologies boss cashes in shares

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

Bob Mansfield, Apple's un-retired SVP of Technologies, is another high-ranked executive to cash in shares of AAPL stock after an "insanely insane" sell-off that saw a quarter of Apple's market cap wiped off. Like other executives, Mansfield likely figured the move makes financial sense ahead of a rumored "fiscal cliff".

According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Mansfield, a long-time Apple veteran, unloaded 35,000 shares. At $582.21 a share, the transaction earned him $20,377,507.50. He still holds 29,548 shares and will get another 150,000 shares in June 2013 and March 2016 provided he stays with Apple.

Though Mansfield wanted to retire, Apple's boss has managed to convince him to stick around for two more years. If Cook gave me a $2 million a month paycheck as a compensation for an advisement position, I'd also un-retire in a heartbeat....

Citi: Apple bottomed, stock set for rebound

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 26, 2012

After a six-month absence on the Apple watch, Citi has returned - and with a strong recommendation to buy shares of the consumer electronics giant. After hitting a particular rough patch that included a sell-off one observer called "the insanity of insanity", Apple's stock is set to rebound 20-50 percent.

Citi's new Apple watcher, Glen Yeung, told investors Monday that Apple's drop in share price has likely hit bottom. Indeed, in most cases, shares will climb back within twelve months. Yeung said the stock should hit $675...

AAPL rebounds from the ‘insanely insane’ sell-off

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2012

After seeing a quarter of its market cap wiped off as shares hit a half-year low, Apple has finally rebounded as investors return to senses with a big rally on Monday. The unexpected sell-off has been "insanely insane", according to Topeka's Brian White. AAPL hit $565.35 a share in after-hours trading.

It closed at $565.73 a share. All told, AAPL soared today $38.05, or 7.21 percent, its second highest one-day dollar gain since 1984. It also pulled Nasdaq and S&P 500 with it. Though still a far cry from the mid-September high of $705.07, it's a good sign that investors haven't lost confidence in Apple's longer-term prospect, especially after eight straight weeks of losses...