“Stock in Apple (AAPL) dropped 11% to $148.63 following the company’s estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1 a share on $7.8 billion in revenue. Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.23 a share on sales of $8.33 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research,” Carla Mozee reports for MarketWatch.
“Its fiscal third-quarter earnings came in higher than Wall Street had expected, reporting a profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 a share, up from $818 million, or 92 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 38% to $7.46 billion from $5.41 billion,” Mozee reports. “Analysts had forecast Apple to earn $1.07 a share on sales of $7.36 billion.”
Full article here.
Looks like it’s time to buy stock, but not a Mac. I want to see what this Messiah of computing turns out to be. Not that I’ll have the funds to buy before then anyway.
The real reason the stock got hammered after hours is that during the earnings conference call, AAPL execs were asked about but declined to comment on Steve Jobs’ health, saying that was a private matter.
The stock promptly plummeted. Bring up a chart of AAPL, and look at the price action at 17:27 ET, which is when the analyst asked the question.
The lack of a published CEO succession plan at AAPL is clearly weighing on investors.
Buy buy buy… now is the time.
I think from now on, I am going to save money and invest it all a few hours after Apple makes it’s announcements.
you guys are stupid. stock prices reflect what investors believe the market will look like in 6-8 months. sure the last quarter earnings were exceptional, but we’re in a weak bear market and people all over the country are getting beaten down and down. people can barely afford to buy clothes and gas and sales are down at every single retail clothing company except walmart (which happens to be an inferior good/market for those of you who know any econ). until the market turns around, all tech stocks (intl, msft, aapl, etc) are going to take a beating.
WTF? MAC is dragging MSFT down, closing at $25.64, -0.22 (-0.85%).
Forget MAC. Microsoft has a healthy, vibrant visionary in Steve Ballmer and products in the pipeline the hippies in Cupertino would never imagine. Zune, Vista and Surface are only the beginning. Keep ’em coming, Redmond!
I hate to break it to you fanbois, but MAC has nothing to announce. It’s called vaporware and MAC has been full of it for years. Aren’t you sheep tired of it yet?
Your potential. Our passion.™
Just wait until this “transition” takes place..
I’m convinced it will be all iPods going touch.
The classic will go away and just become the iPod touch.
The nano will transition into the iPod nano touch.
OSX and the App store will be running on ALL iPods (excluding the shuffle.)
This would temporarily cut into margins but it will surely slam the competition, bring more developers to Apple portable devices and ultimately bring in more revenue through the app store.
“The lack of a published CEO succession plan at AAPL is clearly weighing on investors.”
Not at all. Investors have no real problem with SJ’s health being regarded as a private matter, it’s the short-term speculators who are making a fuss. As always, time will tell.
Poon Tang, you’re always good for chuckles (and little else).
MikeK, the word “transition” triggers me in three directions: 1) the one you just named with the iPods, which is something I had never considered but makes sense; 2) the Snow Leopard CPU/GPU optimization/acceleration thing (which supposedly isn’t going to be ready for a year); and 3) maybe the multitouch keyboard that Fingerworks had already developed is ready. Oppenheimer’s right, NO one would be able to copy that and only Apple would have it: the elimination of the keyboard and mouse (that they originally introduced to the masses) in favor of multitouch.
Another possibility is some killer chip technology from PA Semi, which of course the competition wouldn’t have access to but, again, no way would it be ready as soon as this year, would it?
Food for thought for the next few months.
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
I hope the “transition” is a chip that they attach to the brain with an option to turn off the voices in your head. I heard Apple has like 500 monkeys in their labs testing it now. It has a USB port!
Buy, sell, buy, sell, sell, buy, buy, sell.
The Primary rule for investing with Apple is to ALWAYS sell your stock the day before the announcent.
As an Apple investor I am very disappointed in what Apple is doing. The market is reacting rationally. In the future, Apple should focus on announcing poor results but couple that with an aggessive forecast. That would show the savvy hedge fund managers that Apple is a “player” and it would be rewarded with a major boost in stock price. So the mantra should be, “words speak louder than actions.” And you wondered why Hedge Fund gurus made so much money. Thank God for Jim Cramer and his ilk bringing street smarts to the market.
Steve Jobs is…dying….no other explanation for saying that his health is a private matter…if he was alright they would have already said so…as they did last time when he came out ok from the operation.
Well thanks for all your great, no, make that SUPERB work Steve !
The big hedge funds are at it again. It is time to mess with Apple stock and shake out all the little people so the big boys can buy it up. They will push the stock down to about $110, keep it there for two months, and then run it up to over $200. They want to move it up and down to make 1000%…they are not happy with 100%/year or two. There is a major disconnect between the price of Apple stock and what the stock should really be priced. The big crooks(hedge funds/stock manipulators) buy on rumor and sell on news. They create news (Jobs is sick) to justify depressing the stock price. Figure out the game. May the force be with you.
Steve Jobs is dying, just like we all are. Even if they give a succession plan, do you think that the person they pick is going to be equal to Jobs? No, who could be, this guy has been this industry for 30+ years. Anyone think their is a capable person out there that would make investors feel any better? No. Are their persons out there that could run Apple? Sure, and be successful? Sure, but is their any sicko out there that will demand so much from their employees and actually get it? No.
If one steps back just a little, focusing upon Apple’s
fundamentals,he will see quarter after quarter of amazing profits,
revenues, and products. But that’s not good enough for all the
speculators and manipulators! Apple is poised to continue their
amazing success while many sectors and companies are literally
falling apart–see the financials of just about any airline or
banking company.
We’re in AAPL for the long haul, you hedge fund goobers!
@ X
Yes while the US economy is in a recession the rest of the world’s economy is not. With Apple getting more of it’s profits from abroad do you really think that are reflecting what the stock will be like in 6-8 months?The Iphone about to launch in another 50 countries by 2008’s end. Most if not all European governments are moving to open source computing creatring opportunities for Apple. They are also regaining their educational market world wide. I think these people have their head in the sand and are using speculation on Jobs’ health to hammer the stock so they can manufacture buying opportunities. If this was an oil company it would be trading through the roof. If you look at Apple’s stock performance from 2004 to present the stock usually performs better from August to January any way making 15, 20, 30 and 60 point runs during that time period.
@bobchr
The margins on the iphones are slim,slim,slim. Apple makes money from subscription (per month paycheck from service providers), and a slight piece of the app store profits. Also with the annual end of summer sales coming up, margins decrease on the Macintosh computers and ipods as well. That combined with weak markets in both the US and Asia (Both places outstrip Europe in terms of tech use) leads to a weaker profit outlook for the next quarter. The drop in price of the stock reflects the predicted drop in profits. I say predicted because no one can say with a 100% certainty, weirder things have happened before. But I digress. All tech stocks are no buys for the near future until the market improves.
Also Apple OS is not not not open source. It’s proprietary.
@X
“The margins on the iphones are slim,slim,slim.”
——————
Wrong, it costs approximately $175 to build an iPhone. Apple makes approximately $450 per iPhone.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/07/15/iphone_3gs_final_build_price_just_174_33.html
“you guys are stupid. stock prices reflect what investors believe the market will look like in 6-8 months. sure the last quarter earnings were exceptional, but we’re in a weak bear market….” blahblahblah.
so 6 months ago when they did the same call and the market did the same thing, was it the same logic? i guess that is really working out then isn’t it?
the anal-ists are stupid. they have been wrong so often it would be funny if it weren’t so sad, and you defend them.
who is the more foolish, the fool, or the one who defends them?
If Jobs drops dead, I think police would do well to question MoMo Trader.
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Shareholders (and MDN) can engage in counter manipulation activities. For example, what is important to the manipulating traders now is the price at open on Wed when they can sell or buy options. If those who want to put them out of business all buy shares just before open (if you can trade after hours) or just after open there is a chance to defeat them. They are in it for the money. If they loose they will think twice about doing it again. And the price is right.
Jobs goes missing.
Best report ever and Mr CEO iLeader can’t make a call in show to appease share holders. Little people be damned. Holiday is more important than share value. How’s that for good management judgement?
Analysts have witnessed iLeaders awlfulness from images by professional photogs. Degradation from WWDC image provide hedgers with reason to short.
Little people need to visit iLeader haunts to verify his regular rounds. Some photog could go to the bank with fresh online pics. Only the poor die young.
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I just did a comparison on Yahoo! Financials. AAPL from six months ago vs all three major indicators from six months ago. Very interesting. AAPL was just going into its last whacko dip, still had $20 to $50 yet to drop before it hit bottom. Then it rose. Went well above they Indexes (Indices?) and has mostly tracked with them since. A three-month comparo is a little less “positive”, but still showing the same indications – AAPL is following the market!
OK, sure, this isn’t what AAPL usually does. It usually drops on “Good News” and rises on “No News”. Quad Core is right: sell AAPL just before an announcement then buy it back a week or two later – at a discount. You get hit with more taxes that way, but your profits zoom.