“Lower-than-expected holiday iPhone sales and a weak revenue forecast by Apple Inc renewed fears about Chinese demand and a tepid global market, wiping 8 percent off company stock,” Bill Rigby reports for Reuters. “The world’s most valuable technology company sold a record 51 million iPhones in the quarter, but that was still shy of the 55 million or so that analysts had expected. The company forecast sales of $42 billion to $44 billion this quarter, brisker than usual because of Apple’s new deal to sell iPhones through China Mobile Ltd, the country’s No. 1 carrier. But Wall Street had expected even more – $46 billion, on average.”
“The company on Monday recorded sales of $57.6 billion in its December or fiscal first quarter, versus expectations for about $57.5 billion. Net profit was flat from a year earlier at $13.1 billion, or $14.50 a share, compared to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimate of $14.07,” Rigby reports. “It was the iPhone sales and revenue outlook shortfall that drew attention… Apple sold a record 26 million iPads globally in the quarter, in line with Wall Street estimates. Oppenheimer told Reuters the company more than doubled sales of the tablet in mainland China during the December quarter, helping drive that milestone.”
“Longer term, investors continue to hope that Apple, which last came out with a revolutionary new device – the iPad – in 2010, has something up its sleeve for 2014,” Rigby reports. “Speculation currently revolves around a smartwatch or even a long-rumored TV product. Others say Apple can use its huge iPhone and iTunes base to get into mobile payments or advertising.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The strong of mind can profit from the weak-brained.
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If AAPL really drops 8% on this news (not just in after-hours trading) then I am a buyer!
It’s like that medical humor saying, “The operation was a success but the patient died.”
Just substitute operation with ‘Apple earnings’ and patient with ‘Apple shareholder’ and it works out rather nicely.
The pattern is repeated every time. Watch during the coming quarter. They pump and buy on rumors. It’s as if they’re putting money into a high interest short term investment account in which they control the return. As soon as Apple announces their numbers, good or bad, they sell off like crazy, sending the stock crashing down, just so they can start the cycle all over again. They probably clear at least 5% per quarter. Create the rumors, buy on the rumors, sell on the news. It completely destroys the point of equity investing and turns Apple stock into a big cash machine for assholes. It stalls the stock and makes it difficult for it to grow as it rationally would based on the merit and potential of the company.
Yet “they” don’t do this to all companies. I believe when the time is right, they will do it to Amazon as well, for instance. They can exist because the unwashed masses are playing at their table. They used to invest like business men, reading their tickers, doing real analysis, making decisions on the worthiness of a company. Now the rest of us are playing the game as well, making decisions on what we pick up on the Internet, and they’re taking our money, like high stakes number counters at the black jack table.
Well said…
The only way to win is not to play.
Hope isn’t a legitimate investment strategy…
Regarding MDN take, when will the “strong of mind” profit as AAPL has been in the wringer for more than a year?
On 6/23/10 I bought 10 shares at $271.72. I still,have them. That’s how.
I bought 332 shares averaging $35 in 2000, that’s really how. 🙂 And there are others here who can beat me by a country mile. A $7,000 investment even at $500 is still worth $166,000. It was near a nice quarter mil when it hit $700. The trick is to know when to sell. Many have profited here buying and selling throughout the years. i am too much of a chicken for that. I do think we have reached an Apple tipping point (today’s stock setback notwithstanding) for steamrolled success to increase this year with stock to follow. I hope.
I bought in at $20 two 2:1 splits ago… And I’m not selling yet.
If you don’t panic when the fear mongers want you to, you win. There isn’t any major dependable stock evaluation that rates Apple less than a Hold, and about 2/3 of them rate it as a Buy, and about 1/3 a Strong Buy. If it drops tomorrow like the aftermarket, when the weak minded sell in fear of the Apple doomsday, the ones causing the fear will buy. They will win again like they do every time Apple announces their earnings, because the weak minded will sell again. If you have $500, buy tomorrow. It’ll be worth double that in 5 years, or less.
You’re as cool as a cucumber in your reasoning but there’s no guarantee you or anyone else will be around in 5 years, or less. On a different take, there’s a very high chance, seeing the general direction Apple is headed over the past year or so, it may only be worth half as much.
At the rate Android is growing, it’s highly likely 5 years from now everything in your home and car will be controlled by Google while Apple and iOS will be but a long-forgotten footnote in tech history. Google will end up as the trillion dollar market cap company that Apple was supposed to become.
What there’s no evidence of is that Apple won’t continue to be a strong company. The aberration that took the stock to a $700 high was just that, an aberration on a long steady slope. Certainly there’s no guarantee of any success in the future, but there aren’t any major “reputable” investment houses saying AAPL is anything but a BUY, a STRONG BUY, or a HOLD. There’s virtually none saying sell.
Profit keeps companies in business. Apple does it, and very few Android OEMs make much. In 5 years, it’s far more likely that most of the current Android based manufacturers won’t be around, very much like what happened in the low end PC market over the last decade. Your death knell prediction is groundless.
Agree. Just read LG had a great quater for its G2 and Nexus phone sales. Problem was their margin was -1.2%. They mad a big deal that MSFT doubled its tablet sales from $400 mil to $800 mil conveniently forgetting that that MSFT took a $900 mil write off on their tablet inventory last quarter.
And Google’s stock price to earnings ratio is more than double Apple’s. It’s much more likely that the house of cards that is Google stock will tumble farther than Apple’s will.
Your comment is worthless, because Android is only a free OS, it has zero material worth.
it’s not really free, that’s the gimmick behind Android. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/
Hey Ican how’s that billion dollar investment working for ya?
Really, this is the only thing I can enjoy out of this crap. Icahn, the more he looses, the better I feel.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Icahn buys a lot more AAPL this week.
Only it’s $3.6 billion, and 8% of that is ($288 million.) Of course, everyone lost, but he’s the only one I don’t feel bad for.
Ordiary investors haven’t lost – because they won’t sell in the middle of a shit storm. Speculators and the Street can just ‘suck it up’
So stupid analysts, who have no clue about Apple, make some wild guesses.
Apple makes record sales – the most ever.
But they are lower than stupid analysts’ stupid guesses.
So stock drops.
What a bunch of nonsense! People’s lives hang on a monopoly game played by (mostly) idiots.
Icahn must be fuming for pissing away a quick billion dollars on Apple when he could have bought any other mediocre stock and made a ton of money. What he lost is gone for good. He’d have been better off going to a race track and betting on a three-legged horse to win.
I’m sure the man must have some investor skills considering all the money he has but what the hell was he thinking. Hasn’t he been paying attention to what Tim Cook is gradually doing to Apple shareholders? Only the Son of Man was able to walk on water. Apple shareholders only drown. I can’t wait to see what he has to say tomorrow about blankety-blank Apple. Will he become another Loyal Apple Apologist and forgive Apple’s trespasses or simply damn them to hell?
I received my Apple voting proxy over the weekend and I’m ready to make Icahn suffer even more as I cast my vote against his stupid buybacks. I wish I could send a F U, Icahn attachment along with my vote.
So what do you suggest Apple do?
The usual scenario will play out. Apple take the profits and the competitors take the plaudits. The PC industry is dying and Apple have moved on to bigger success. The same will happen to Android phone makers. No one will make a profit and Apple will come out on top.
Apple shares will rise in the end and my stock is still up 700% since 2007.
In other news, shares in Heavan were down 8%, because rain has been unseasonably low this year and falls far short of meteorologist’s 20″ rainfall forcast.
True BS… Wall Street, shame shame.
In other news, Jeff Bozo, CEO of Amazon said that he found a dollar down the back of his sofa this morning, so he should turn a profit this year.
Analysts, spurred on by this amazing new long term revenue stream, reiterated their ‘buy’ rating on the stock.
I do wonder what investors actually think Amazon are going to do to make the sort of profits they ultimately will want. The only way I see it happening currently if every single thing sold on Earth is via Amazon – but then they’ll be doomed because there will be no room for growth and the only way will be down.
Fsck me dead. There are a lot of stupid people out there
“Apple posts record quarterly revenue, record iPhone and iPad unit sales, shares plummet.”
Is it opposite day on Wall Street?
Likely traders are looking to keep Apple stock in a sweet spot,
a price range where the most buying and selling goes on.
If the stock goes too high, a lot of dentists won’t buy it.
Apple’s stock price is a prime example of how the stock market is just a game with no basis in reality. If the big players want to do something they do it and make money regardless. Really, we may as well just make it entirely virtual, real companies are essentially inconsequential to it at this point.
I’m beginning to think Apple should do a stock split so that some people aren’t as easily scared by it going up to such big numbers. At a lower price any increases would seem bigger percentage wise as well. Nonsense really, but then so is everything else.
Morning MarketWatch headline:
“January 28, 2014 5:04 AM
Apple’s dismal results mean shares now depend on Icahn-ites: analyst”
Only in America can record sales and profits still be considered a failure. Apple got it right but the outsiders thought otherwise, why should we believe in them ??
This is why US industry is doomed. THe Wall St. machine has created a system that does not reward companies for doing the right thing over the long term.
If nothing else, Apple can buy back a lot of stock cheaply right now, which will reward those who keep holding the stock as the number of shares outstanding continues to drop. As this happens, EPS will keep going up, so the stock will rise on its own.
Apple can fix this once and for all. Just report units shipped, that should put them on the same grading scale as Samsung.
What’s there to panic about? Apple had a record sales quarter. The only idiots selling are the anal-ists who aren’t looking at the companies real numbers and real business. There out there in there own fantasy game which none of us could ever win at because it is all bull shit!! They think Apple survives on only one product when it does not.
57 billion in one quarter….woe is Apple.