“A team of Credit Suisse analysts led by Kulbinder Garcha spent part of the past eight weeks meeting with 150 institutional investors to talk about Apple,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
“Apparently, they got an earful, which they summarized in a note to clients Monday as five ‘key recurring questions and concerns,” P.E.D. reports.
5 worries fund managers have about Apple:
Concern 1: Does the iPad have a demand issue?
Concern 2: Are iPhone volumes reaching saturation?
Concern 3: Is Apple too big and aren’t shares over-owned?
Concern 4: What about Steve Jobs’ health?
Concern 5: What about the cash pile?
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Our answers:
1) No.
2) No.
3) No.
4) We wish good health for Mr. Jobs and we’re very confident in Apple’s upper management
5) Surely Apple has plans for that cash, fund managers. Don’t worry your pretty little heads about it.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “sleiii” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Is this another instance of “False News” that manipulates the Apple stock price for hedge fund ‘Day Traders” ????
Yea they will try.
I wonder how many counterfeit stocks were sold “short” just before this story.
There’s this little company called Disney that had the best CEO ever at the time and everyone said that company would crumble without him. He was the vision! He was the idea man! They can’t do anything without him!
The secret to men like Disney and Steve Jobs is they surround themselves with like-minded people and teach them how to be like them so that when they do leave, their company will continue on the same way.
My 1-2 week shipment of my iPad 2 took 3 weeks, so demand is still huge. Every store in my city is still sold out. My friends are still buying iPhones. I’ve upgraded my iPhone 3 times and my iPad once now. It doesn’t matter if they expand customers (though they will worldwide), because Apple customers upgrade ONLY TO APPLE PRODUCTS. They don’t lose the customers they have.
And the cash? What’s the worst they can do with the cash, give it to shareholders? They can buy any company/technology/patent they want. Fund managers are morons.
Agreed, all.
May Apple never have a Michael Eisner.
Lets hope not anyway. Eisner rung a lot of money from the Disney op’s but wasn’t a good vision or product guy. He was the worst kind of CEO, lavish on himself, and cheap on everyone else.
well said sir.
A great point you make sir. Disney and Jobs are quite comparable. How appropriate that Jobs would go on to become Disney company’s biggest shareholder!
“Apple customers upgrade ONLY TO APPLE PRODUCTS”
So true. Once you go Mac, you never look back. NB, though, that there are still isolated islands of ‘enterprise’ uselessness (unfortunately still prevalent in the health industry in this country) which, amazingly and idiotically, still stumble on while barely supported on windoze stilts.
“So true. Once you go Mac, you never look back.”
As I like to put it, “Once you bite, you’re bitten.”
(That should be a company tag-line.)
“The secret to men like Disney and Steve Jobs is they surround themselves with like-minded people and teach them how to be like them …”
There are a couple of SJ’s attributes that can’t be copied:
1) Audaciously successful negotiating prowess.
2) Inspirational ability, based on his unique RDF-contagion.
Those overpaid analists have to come up with something to show their bosses and customers they actually do some critical ‘thinking’.
analists = analysts
He was right, they are analists (those who are anal).
I think analcysts is more apt though
Having too much cash money is a ‘concern’???? Get outta town!
I consider that an asset….you are never too rich or too beautiful
Thanks. I appreciate that.
If there are fund managers that truly don’t know the answers to these questions I’m simply appalled.
WOW… so spot on. 🙂 Its like if its not a Walmart model, then they just do not know how to handle it. And any company should change its business model so they do not have to spend any extra energy thinking.
Just a thought,
en
if you read the article the Credit Suisse answers (reported to their clients) are pretty much the same as MDN’s….
“Concern 5: What about the cash pile?”
I am sure that Apple will be able to do something brilliant with all that money, just like they have in the past. Unlike the analysts, who would most likely eat the bills if they were placed next to the paste.
What’s with this roller coaster ride of Apple’s stock recently? It seems like it’s been seesawing between $330 and $350 since forever. What gives? These seem like huge swings to me. Where’s the approach to $450 everyone’s talking about?
This is normal for aapl. At some point there will be a big push up. Aapl goes up big, goes down a bit from profit taking, bounces around it’s new baseline for awhile before going up again.
All manipulated by the brokers.
This is all about fund managers rationalizing their missing the Apple skyrocket.
Skyrocket? AAPL has dropped steadily since early February despite all the great news. When it hit 363 i predicted here that it was headed for $300, not the $1,000 so popular here. I am still long on AAPL but as long as Steve is not at the helm most investors will remain wary. MDN can cheerlead all they want bu AAPL is Steve. Period.
So why are you long AAPL again?
What could Apple do with all that money?
Well, they could borrow 40 billion then go buy 51% of Microsoft. Only then would Steve Jobs allow himself to pass on into the afterlife.
Hey, it was just a thought! Don’t throw rocks at me!
#5 sounds like something a condescending prick would say.
So little civility left in the world…
clarification: The MDN response to #5 sounds like …
The question is a legitimate one, as it should be for all publicly traded companies.
PED has to realize the rat-bastards are punishing apple because of your expose. The MM has to show consistency now. They know the yoyo motion of GM he stock snow under scrutiny. Since their prime directive was to take this down to a precise point for their masters to make a predetermined amount on their short positions. They are rushing to reach this price point, after which they will swing the price upwards. As this trend of falling PPS co it yes, watch the GS analyst spout positive dribble while the MM (also from GS) continues to bring the stock Dow. This way, GS will say that they have consistently been positive on the stock and proves the independence of their analyst and MM worlds. Pure BS of course, but in our incorruptible rule of law environment that our venerable Feds operate, this is just business as usual. Better yet just the cost of doing business, since worst case scenario is that the SEC will come to terms with these saints and collect a fine which will be a pittance to the amount of money that the trading desks have made.
Read Taibbi’s latest in the rolling stones magazine. Despite thesenate’srecommendation that GS be prosecuted, nothing will happen.
5 worries Apple trackers have about fund managers:
Concern 1: Do fund managers have an Attention Deficit Disorder issue?
Concern 2: Are price manipulation shenanigans reaching saturation?
Concern 3: Is [name of major financial company] too big and aren’t shares over-concentrated?
Concern 4: What about over-fed sedentary fund managers’ health?
Concern 5: What about the cash piles under fund managers’ mattresses?
Here’s why the stock is dropping:
The only reason to buy AAPL is if the price will rise. Operation as usual means that what we expect to happen will happen, so all that success is built into the price and the price won’t rise.
All this talk about P/E and earnings and blah blah blah, is worthless except to define a range of 25% or so in which the stock will drift.
Since there’s no dividend, at times like this when there’s nothing emotional, nothing new, nothing unexpected to push the stock higher, it drifts downward.
Why? Because that’s the only way to make money on AAPL: Sell when it’s boring; Buy when it’s exciting. BTW, “exciting” is blow-your-mind products and services that will make even your grandpa consider buying, not awesome sales growth, which all expect and which isn’t that new or exciting.
If there were a dividend owning AAPL would be worthwhile in and of itself. Since it’s not, owning AAPL is worthwhile only when people are excited about it.
But take heart. Soon we’ll have exciting announcements (WWDC ’11) and more exciting inferences and suggestions and the stock will rise 75-100 points in four months.
Keep an eye out for the mounting excitement and get in on the upswing. But wait until it actually begins, because this baby will drift even lower short-term.
Concern 1: Does the iPad have a demand issue?
Yes, too much demand, not enough supply. Terrible problem for a company to face…
Concern 2: Are iPhone volumes reaching saturation?
Premature – Apple is still expanding into China and other markets. Plus, as long as people like the new models there will be a strong annual upgrade cycle for the iPhone.
Concern 3: Is Apple too big and aren’t shares over-owned
So now Apple is “too big?” Not sure what over-owned means. There are only so many shares of AAPL and the majority are in the hands of institutional investors.
Concern 4: What about Steve Jobs’ health?
What about the economy? Oil prices? Unemployment? European debt crisis? Political unrest in a number of countries? AS MDN stated, Apple has a strong management team.
Concern 5: What about the cash pile?
So it isn’t earning top dollar relative to other investments. It is far better than *not* having a big cash pile, and Apple has no long term debt! Consider it to be a strategic cash reserve that offers buying and investment opportunities in troubled times as well as good times. For instance, Apple seems to have a strong component supply despite the tsunami in Japan. If Apple distributes the cash as a dividend, then it results in taxation. Apple is a *growth* company, albeit a very large one.
My take would be:
1. No
2. No
3. No
4. None of your damn business
5. Why? Worried about your job?
as I’ve said before:
apple needs to engage the investing world better. Big fund managers need to be soothed like children. (Apple is a ‘strange’ company, it’s gigantic and yet grows like a growth stock, conventionally trained fund managers don’t know what to make of it). Apple needs to explain to those fund managers (many of whom are tech clueless) what Apple’s prospects and roughly its game plan is (Apple needs to make a judgment on AMOUNT of ‘secrecy’ it needs vs it’s responsibilities to aapl investors : ‘unknowns’ scare the beejeebers out of many fund managers. see the article: ‘recurring concerns’. )
Apple is so big now for it to grow it needs billions in new investment so they need to court big funds .
in line with that Apple needs to declare dividends so that aapl can be bought by hundreds of dividend yield mutual and pension funds. Already much aapl has been sold off by ETF tracking the nasdaq due to the re balancing.
Apple PR is among the WORSE in corporations. They’ve improved slightly recently with the quick response over the ‘tracking’ issue but generally they are poor. For example when Blodgets “iPhone dead in water” post went out and was quoted everywhere as ‘fact’ would it have killed Apple PR to release a short reminder that iPhone sales are up 113%? Yeah I know people say apple shouldn’t ‘stoop’ down to answer bloggers but look at aapl stock price … the Nasdaq and S&P average has been beating it for months.
Big fund managers BELIEVE iOS vs Android is Mac vs PC again and apple is eventually going to lose (it’s garbage but that’s what they believe) and apple hasn’t done any real PR to defend itself . Another example: ‘Jobs Health concerns’ why doesn’t apple sooth the concerns by touting it’s internal ‘ Apple University’ run by Yale and Harvard professors to instil Steve Jobs philosophy to staff (this tidbit had to released by Fortune magazine) and remind everyone about it’s strong management bench – e.g Tim cook is a better ceo than Dells, HPs, Microsoft’s ? Fund managers with billions to invest have BIG EGOS and they want corporate senior managers to explain things to them .
I’ve got a practically unknown consumer stock (company selling watches) that grew 46% while my aapl just sat there… Netflix and Amazon have PE’s in the 70s.
enough already, apple needs to do more to protect it’s investors.
“Apple is so big now for it to grow it needs billions in new investment so they need to court big funds .”
Sorry Dave, but that is a ridiculous statement. Note how Apple’s liquidity increases over time, not decreases.
Also, Apple runs beautifully as a company during what amounts to a worldwide economic depression. And you want to fix what’s not broken.
Apple also has zero responsibility of interest in training the TechTardy investor. That is the investor’s sole responsibility. With time people catch up. Technology does not stop, certainly in Apple’s case, to hold classes in technology comprehension. Again, a ridiculous concept.
I agree with a lot of what you state about fund managers and investors in general. Big egos, wanting things to be simple, totally addicted to the KISS Principle. It’s lameness like this that has lead to the horrendous state of world economics. It’s laziness. It’s the usual old civilization attitude of being ‘entitled’ to the money rather than having actually done the work, the research, the self-education, the follow-through to have actually EARNED the money.
I say FRACK the lazy ‘entitled’ investor. They get what they deserve, and what they got was an economic depression. Brilliantly run companies like Apple are too good for them. Apple makes money from its hard work no matter what the lazy and ignorant quadrant of investors do with their money.
A fool and his money…
It just goes to show that even with all the advantages of a world of money Wall Street is still controled by the guys you never would have picked to be on your team. Even when they have everything needed to make a breakout play they’re too afraid to act. They only do what their peers expect them to do.
Apple is doing what no company has ever done and Wall Street’s reaction is to cower in fear. As an individual investor my fear is that Apple will justifiablly go private and shut out the loyal long individual investor.
After this obvious stock manipulation BS I wouldn’t blame Apple for going private at all.
THIS is how you manipulate a stock’s price in the market:
FUD!
Does the iPad have a demand issue?
FUD!
Are iPhone volumes reaching saturation?
FUD!
Is Apple too big and aren’t shares over-owned?
FUD!
What about Steve Jobs’ health?
FUD!
What about the cash pile?
Meanwhile, the FUD mongerers buy up the stock while the market doesn’t notice and make a KILLING when the stock jumps to its actual value. This is biznizz.