“Carl Icahn disclosed that he has doubled down on Apple, adding 2.8 million shares as of March 31,” Brian Solomon reports for Forbes.
“His growing collection now amounts to more than 7.5 million shares, or over $4.4 billion in total value,” Solomon reports. “Icahn also disclosed 27.8 million shares ($1.4 billion) of a new holding in EBay, a company he recently ended his fight with over spinning out PayPal. And he decreased his holding in Netflix NFLX -2.2% to 2.2 million shares, taking some profit on his successful purchase.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bill” for the heads up.]
And all the naysayers here claiming he is anti Apple. Let those among you who have $4 bil in AAPL cast the first stone.
Betting on Apple being a cash cow in the short term and caring about Apple’s long-term health are two entirely different things.
Well said, who knows what his longer term game is, certainly if he felt dissecting the company and even destroying it as an independent entity for personal profit I doubt that he would have second thoughts, nor shed any tears thereafter.
He’s going to make a bundle real soon the parasite…
I’ve got what he wanted from Apple, and now he’s going to line his pockets.
And hopefully line my pockets too. What the hell is wrong with that? You want Apple to fail? He is not shorting AAPL, he is long AAPL. Jesus, folks.
He’s as long as a yardstick, don’t kid yourself.
As far as an investment goes, he can’t lose, timing just before the split is a killer move that will multiply his investment fast so even if he doesn’t get his way bullying by leveraging his huge position, he can still sell half and retain a huge one…
Good move and that’s how money makes money…
Of course, never forget that Apple’s high quality everything, in the first place is key to his gambling strategy, he ain’t no die hard Apple investor…
Moves that make AAPL financially successful as a stock in the near term do NOT make them smart moves for Apple’s long-term health as a company. The fact that Icahn’s entire reason for getting involved was to get at Apple’s bank account and “unlock the value” of AAPL indicates that he cares nothing about Apple as a business, and only about AAPL as a stock.
My philosophy on Apple vs. AAPL is this: so long as Apple is able to do everything it needs to in order to create the best, most innovative products, AAPL will follow. But Icahn wants Apple to chase its own tail (AAPL), a game that will inevitably take away Apple’s ability to take the kinds of risks (including disrupting its own businesses) that have made it such a success.
Chasing shareholder value in and of itself, instead of creating it as a byproduct of truly revolutionary business, will become shackles for Apple. And for a company like Apple, with the expectations the world has for it, those shackles will spell the company’s doom.
We hate him.
Who? You and the rest of 7th grade class? Doubt you are an AAPL investor. We, those who are actual stockholders, do not hate anyone long AAPL, it is the shorts we hate.
I don’t hate him… When he bought another 2.8 million shares of AAPL, the value of my “slightly” smaller holding in AAPL went up. He advised Apple to increase stock buyback. Apple did increase stock buyback. Whether it was done due to Icahn’s advice, or it was already planned, it does not matter. The possibility (before any formal action) that Apple might increase stock buyback made AAPL go up.
The “noise” he makes increases media coverage of Apple, which is generally a good thing. Everyone complains about negative “manipulation” of AAPL. What Icahn does is positive for AAPL. He’s an investor with a lot AAPL shares. He obviously wants AAPL to go up, just like me. Why in the world would I “hate” him.
Regardless if you like him or not, people listen to him. When he double downs, it means others will too. This could be good for everyone, now matter what slime oozes from his ears. Yes this looks like a short term move, but I think Apple’s 7:1 split is more than he imagined and that’s why he’s moving in. What we want is good common investors looking to Apple to keep their retirement funds in. We want to see more mutual funds moving in. Then it will be ulra-stable.
It also means, Apple is changing. But that’s okay. I want them around for my grand kids to enjoy. I want there to be a Navigator in their home office.
The 7:1 stock split means nothing but he will have 7 times as many share a total exactly what it was worth before the split. No one gets any money, just 7 times the shares worth 1/7th of the amount. You think he could not afford $588 shares? Only itty bitty investors will like the cheaper shares. Splitting makes no change to you current AAPL cash balance. Indeed if the value at the split cannot be decided exactly by 7 you may actually lose a few hundreds of a penny per share. It is just arithmetic, not some Icahn strategy. In fact he is against the split.
doubled down on Apple
So AAPL is now all about betting. Make me hurl.
I think I’ll keep my own perception of Apple as the most creative business on the planet. Keep your gambling addiction to yourself, Wall Nut Street.
Icahn’s move is prudent. My modest take is that markets will be facing stormy weather for some time. AAPL could be a safe haven.
We’ll see.
He knows something. Unlike Martha Stewart he won’t get caught. Apple is up to something big… What did Tim say? “New product categories” I think. I’m betting Apple stock will double in the next year. Icahn knows this and that is the only reason he would risk that kind of money.
Btw, I don’t think Icahn is long on any stock. He is just a leach that will suck the blood from the easiest victim.