“Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus became available for sale September 19th. The new, larger iPhones have been flying off the shelves. In fact, over 10M iPhone 6s were sold the opening weekend, smashing previous sales records, and reviews have been mostly positive,” R.S. Analytics writes for Seeking Alpha. “It sure doesn’t sound like a good time to be short Apple, but apparently it is – the latest short interest report shows short interest increased over 30% from 96M shares on 8/29 to over 138M shares on 9/15. The short sellers were likely playing the extended ramp in Apple’s share price, rising from $75 in April to over $103 at the end of August, and figured there would be a sell-off post launch.”
“Toss in the “naked picture” security flap on 9/2 and a toppy market, and the short trade was making more sense,” R.S. Analytics writes. “Below are 3 recent incidents that have created “headline risk” that make the Apple short strategy look even more compelling and could cause the short interest to grow even higher in the coming reporting periods.””
• Bending iPhones: There has been no response from Apple as of yet. The Apple short trade just got a little more interesting.
• iOS 8 Software Fail: The iOS [8.0.1] update problem, in addition to “bendgate”, caused more negative headlines and gives the short interest less incentive to cover.
• The iTunes/U2 Promotional Misfire: Just another headline tarnishing the iPhone 6 launch.
“Obviously, none of the 3 above mentioned incidents are any kind of mortal blow to Apple, but they do serve to create ‘headline risk’ that will likely cause additional increases in the already elevated short interest,” R.S. Analytics writes. ” They also cost money and customer goodwill. When people pay a premium price for an iPhone, they expect premium hardware, premium software, and premium service. It makes sense right now to either short Apple stock or take profits while the stock is near all-time highs, the market is near all-time highs, and the short interest is piling in seemingly without fear.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s banana skins: U2, ‘Bendygate’ and iOS 8.0.1 – September 25, 2014
U.S. government warns of Bash flaw affecting Apple’s OS X, other Unix-based systems – September 25, 2014
Apple CEO Cook goes from record sales to iPhone stumbles – September 25, 2014
Apple: iOS 8.0.2 coming ‘in the next few days’ – September 25, 2014
Rush Limbaugh: How did Apple miss the iOS 8.0.1 bugs? – September 24, 2014
How to get rid of iOS 8.0.1 and revert to iOS 8.0 – September 24, 2014
iOS 8.0.1 fiasco: Apple exec responsible for catching bugs before release has a ferocious door-slamming temper – September 24, 2014
Apple pulls iOS 8.0.1 after users report major problems – September 24, 2014
ALERT: Do not install Apple’s iOS 8.0.1; breaks cellular connectivity, Touch ID support for ‘large number of users’ – September 24, 2014
Apple releases iOS 8.0.1 – September 24, 2014
There you go. Makes you wonder how all these negative publicity all of a sudden crops ups within days of a new Apple product release. Some dumb ass bending iPhones as hard as he can on video takes hold as fact on mainstream media. You can see him struggle, yet the media notes it as “easy” or “easily bends”. Really? No investigation, no validation that it happens in the front pocket, no testing and they all jump on the bandwagon as if its happening all over the world. How many were really reported and returned to Apple that has been verified as actually bending in the front pocket?
If Apple had an effective PR department, all of your questions and more would already have been answered.
Whoa! Stop Production of the iPhone. Four people out of 10 million bent their iPhone 6+ by being careless and sitting on it. Apple is doomed! The media is in a feeding frenzy and are straining to bend an iPhone a day to prove that they can be bent.
I remember accidentally bending my iPhone 3GS when I first got it by sitting on it in my back pocket. Apple replaced it and I learned my lesson.
It seems that no one likes to see anyone succeed in life and if they see someone seem to succeed, they all must work together to pull that person down and make their own miserable lives seem relevant again.
Direct answer to your question.
9 according to Apple, have actually called in for service.
Wouldn’t the best time to short Apple have been prior to these stories breaking ?
Most people can work out that none of the factors are particularly serious, will be resolved rapidly and people will have moved on soon afterwards. It all comes down to whether you think that AAPL is now as low as it’s going to go or whether it will be driven down further. If a fix for the IOS 8.01 problem is released before the weekend, that will do a lot to stabilise Apple. The bending issue was never a serious matter and U2 has been deleted from our memories – both from hard drives and from our brains.
The current quarter seems to have been pretty good for Apple sales and there is every reason to believe that the Christmas quarter is going to be a blockbuster. Whatever dip there is in AAPL at the moment should only be a temporary blip because the business fundamentals are excellent.
…and cars dent. Shock. Dismay.
Yup, I went to bed last night knowing that the stock would be under $100.00.
It’s a good opportunity to learn a bit of humility.
– Don’t give people a free war they can’t return or throw away.
– Don’t give a population of obese people thin phones. I mean John Candy would bend an iPhone in his front pocket.
– Don’t use the “aim for Bin Ladin but hit Saddam Hussein” guidance system for your software.
And the jouranalists are getting a hardon ooooh “headline risk” the best kind of head a jouranalist can ask for.
Yet here the crikets chirp. Yes MDN’s bashing has stopped momentarily. No derogatory snide comments about competitors, no image of thermonuclear detonation, no comment about how someone is filling their depends with shit.
Maybe, maybe in this brief moment of lost momentum some folks will take a moment to consider the benefits of being humble.
Everyone’s gone gaga on a mobile phone. Maybe it’s not the phone…
Oh and one more thing, don’t spy on the Germans.
Best PSA ever.
The bending thing it nuts. From the videos alone a rational person can see that you have to take the phone and bend with all your strength to get the DESIRED result. For years I’ve watched people bend phones and crack screens by putting them in their back pockets and sitting down.
Honestly, I’ve mostly seen women/girls do this. I think it’s because they don’t hve shirt pockets. I’ve warned several about the possibility of doing the phone damage, and been ignored, and replaced screens for some of them. It should be obvious to people that if the phone is so rigid that it can’t bend, there’s a strong chance you’re going to crack the screen with it in your back pocket, while sitting in your skinny jeans.
As far as people putting the phones in their front pockets and having them bend, to say I’m skeptical is an understatement. There is no way I can duplicate that kind of pressure, the pressure of two hands bending with all their strength, even sitting down.
I’m sitting here with my HTC One in my front pocket. It is roughly the same size as the iPhone 6 Plus. It is impossible for me to bend it. The phone is perfectly flat.
Maybe, if my pants were impossibly tight and the phone was placed in my pocket on top of a rigid item like a screwdriver handle, and I pressed down on the top and bottom of the phone, maybe I could bend it.
In my front pocket, there is no way my HTC is experiencing anywhere near a pound of pressure on any point right now. The guy who put out the most referenced video said he was using all of his strength to bend phones. Using all his strength with his thumbs as a fulcrum he managed to bend the iPhone. What is that? 15 lbs on each side of his thumbs?
I can put a strip of gum in my front pocket, sit down and stand up repeatedly and it remains straight.
Anyone saying their phone bent in their front pocket is lying. And if it bent in their back pockets, they’re stupid.
This is insane orchestrated BS, that only click bait loving jackass leeches would perpetuate.
“Geez man, I hope your d!cks bigger than this!”
Sorry, old movie quote but it’s the first thing that popped into my head. I totally agree with the front pocket thing…
Since the first thing that popped into your head was my dick, you might want to check gay.com. I hear it is the ultimate hookup site for men who prefer men these days. If you’re not a man, and just a kid, which is just as likely, don’t worry, everything will become easier as you get older. Don’t be afraid to talk to your parents about your feelings.
My hero!
There’s new talk, since last night. The video of the “reporter” who bent the iPhone.
Introduction, prior to the iPhone bending, the iPhone shows the time 2:20pm. Then just after the iPhone bending, the phone says 1:50pm or so. During the conclusion, the phone doesn’t look bent at all.
This may be proof it was all staged. Additionally on his second and third videos, how do you know he’s using all his strength?
Bent phones and album giveaways are not problems. That’s two out of his three “facts.”
iOS 8.0.1 was a fuckup, and I’m sure it’ll be fixed.
It’s not the end of the world.
One issue with investing in the stock market is dealing with the mentally challenged. Unfortunately, many can’t see that the more FUD spewed by the competition the better Apple sales are. This is a war and the competition is fighting for their lives.
We are at the dawn of a new era in computing. In a few short year Apple will rule the market share world. They will rule mobile. They will rule personal computers. They will rule business computing. They will rule wearables. The world has had enough of the competition’s mediocre products with horrible customer support. Want proof? 75 percent of iPhone 6 purchasers have not previously owned an iPhone. This is absolutely huge and will change the course of computing forever. This means Samsung is finished. Dell is finished. HP, Microsoft and Google – finished! These companies have produced crap for years and the public isn’t going to take it any longer. No amount of FUD is going to stem the tide.
Let me give you a little story – in business school during the late 1990’s we studied Dell as a model for success. After graduation I purchased a number of Dells for my company. Everything was fine until about a year into the purchase. Trying to get support was like pulling teath because Dell had outsourced tech support to people that could barely speak the English language. This was my last Dell purchase. A few years later I purchased an HP and had similar support issues. It took two months to resolve my broken HP. In subsequent years i invested in additional Microsoft PC’s – all junk. A few years ago, when I started playing around with the Developers Edition of Windows 8 I realized it was over for Microsoft.
The public has had enough of the BS and are voting with their wallets – it’s the end of incompetent platforms like Android and Windows running on substandard hardware. Apple will continue to win the day and run these crap peddlers out of town. Those investing in the stock market need to open their eyes and see.