Investor

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is concerned about Apple’s prospects in China

Activist investor Carl Icahn earlier this year sold his position in Apple, but that doesn't mean he no longer thinks Apple is a lucrative stock to invest in. Quite the contrary, he's made several billion dollars on Apple!

That being said, he would invest back in the Cupertino firm were it not for Apple's prospects in China, which he doesn't feel secure about although he's adamant that CEO Tim Cook is “doing a good job”.

Apple to hold Q2 2016 earnings call on April 25

Apple has scheduled an earnings call to discuss its second fiscal quarter results for Monday, April 25, 2016 at 2:00pm Pacific Time, 5pm Eastern Time, according to a note on the Apple Investor website. The conference call will discuss Apple's financial performance during a three-month period ending this month following its lucrative holiday quarter.

The quarterly earnings statement will be released thirty minutes in advance of the conference call. The company provided revenue guidance of $50 to $53 billion for the quarter and gross margin between 39 and 39.5 percent, prompting concern among investors as these numbers represent Apple's first revenue decrease in thirteen years.

Apple to announce Q1 2016 earnings on January 26

Apple just confirmed via its Investor Relations portal that it will be releasing financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2016 (fourth calendar quarter of 2015) on Tuesday, January 26. As usual, the company will be hosting a conference call to discuss the results at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET that day.

While earnings reports aren't typically worth getting excited about, Apple loves to show off during the holiday quarter. The company routinely crushes smartphone sales and revenue records for the 3-month period, besting itself last year by moving 75 million iPhones and recording almost $75 billion in revenue.

Tim Cook says iPhone activations in China growing as $AAPL stock falls below $100

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a rare move today by responding to an email from CNBC's Jim Cramer. Cook's letter, a copy of which was obtained by Business Insider, addresses the company's quarter so far and basically says that everything's fine with Apple's business and performance in China.

Apple's stock has been declining since the company's June quarter earnings showed iPhone sales coming slightly below investors' expectations. This morning, $AAPL fell below $100 amid bigger stock market woes as most indices are in the red today.

Microsoft buys $15 million stake in Foursquare

It's been a pretty big day for Microsoft. Following the news earlier today that Satya Nadella has been named the company's new CEO, and Bill Gates would be stepping down as chairman, comes word that the Windows maker has made a sizable investment in Foursquare.

The deal, which has been confirmed by both parties, is said to be worth $15 million, and it will give Microsoft access to Forsquare's mountain of mobile data. The company plans to utilize the data in its Bing mapping software and various other Windows Phone applications...

Icahn says Apple board is ‘working against shareholders’ then buys $500M more shares

Greedy activist investor Carl Icahn has escalated his anti-Apple rhetoric on Wednesday after recently filing a proposal to put his aggressive stock buyback proposal up for a vote. Apple responded by confirming that any changes to its own corporate stock buyback program will be discussed in the “first part of calendar 2014,” likely at the upcoming shareholder meeting in February.

Be that as it may, Icahn now feels the Apple board is "doing great disservice to shareholders" by refusing to boost the company's buyback markedly, according to a tweet today. An in-depth letter will follow soon, the shark investor ominously announced.

At the same time, Icahn announced buying an additional half a billion dollars worth of shares, pushing his stake in the iPhone maker to north of a respectable $3 billion. He called the latest investment a "no brainer"...

Apple to discuss holiday sales in January 27 conference call

According to the Apple Investor webpage, the company will hold a conference call on Monday, January 27, to discuss financial results of its first fiscal 2014 quarter. The call is scheduled at 2:00pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern Time.

Apple typically announces quarterly earnings via a press release issued half an hour ahead of these calls and we'll be providing around the clock coverage to make sure you're up to date on all matters concerning the company's business metrics.

The upcoming earnings report should be interesting on many levels as it will cover the all-important holiday season sales data for the iPhone 5s/5c, the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display...