Posts Tagged ‘aapl’

  • Apple Misses?
    , October 18th, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Yes, it’s true. Apple ($AAPL) just reported third-quarter earnings of $7.05 per share which was 17 cents below estimates.

    Of course, since Apple always beats the Street, investors were really expecting much more. There was even talk of Apple netting $8 or $8.50 per share. This is very surprising.

    For the full fiscal year, which ended in September, Apple earned $27.68 per share which was a huge increase over the $15.15 earned in the year before.

    Here’s a look at Apple and its EPS from a chart I made one month ago:

  • Apple’s Share Price History 1980 to Present
    , October 5th, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Apple‘s ($AAPL) stock has averaged a 1% gain each week for eight-and-a-half years.

  • Apple Hits New All-Time High
    , September 19th, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    The Double Dip hasn’t hurt Apple ($AAPL) so much. The stock broke out to a new all-time high today. Shares of AAPL have been as high as $411.50 today (so far).

    Two months ago, I looked at Apple’s valuation after its most-recent earnings report and found that the stock really can’t be called overpriced.

    Since then, Apple had fallen to $353 by early August but it’s made back all it lost since then.

    Wall Street currently thinks Apple will earn $27.53 per share for this fiscal year which ends in a few days. For FY 2012 (ending September one year from now), Wall Street expects earnings of $32.39.

    The S&P 500 is expected to earn $108.39 from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2012 which gives the index a forward P/E Ratio of 11.01 based on the current price.

    Apple, by contrast, is going for 12.67 times forward earnings. That means that Apple is going for a 15% premium to the S&P 500 which seems very reasonable.

  • Steve Jobs Resigns
    , August 24th, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    Here’s the press release via the WSJ:

    August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

    I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

    I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

    As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

    I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

    I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

    When Steve Jobs rejoined Apple ($AAPL) in December 1996, the stock was around $6 per share. It closed today at $376. That’s a gain of more than 6,000%.

  • A Look at Apple’s Blowout Earnings
    , July 20th, 2011 at 9:41 am

    All eyes on Wall Street seemed to be focused on Apple‘s ($AAPL) earnings report. Once again, the company did not disappoint. Apple earned an astounding $7.79 per share for the second quarter.

    It’s almost difficult to put these numbers into context. Shares of Apple are up over 60-fold in a little over eight years. That means that the shares have doubled, on average, every 17 months.

    If you had bought Apple 13 years ago, you’d now be making all of your money back every three months. That means the company made more money in the second quarter than the entire company was worth in 1998.

    Here’s a look at Apple’s share price along with its trailing 12-month earnings-per-share. The blue line is Apple’s stock and it follows the left scale. The yellow line is earnings and it follows the right scale. The two lines are scaled at a ratio of 20-to-1, so whenever the lines cross that means Apple’s P/E Ratio is exactly 20.

    There’s no deep reason why I chose a ratio of 20. It just seemed to provide the graph the best fit. The red line is Wall Street’s forecast. The problem is that yesterday’s earnings report was so strong that it made a joke of Wall Street’s forecast, so please don’t pay too much attention to the red line. I expect to see those projections increased dramatically.

    I also think it’s interesting that Apple’s earnings growth was barely dented by the recession. Also, the stock’s valuation is hardly extreme, at least based on earnings. Just a month ago, Apple closed at $315 per share which was less than 13 times earnings.

  • Inside the Secret World of an Apple Store
    , June 20th, 2011 at 11:36 am

    This is embarrassing to admit, but I’ve completely fallen for the Apple ($AAPL) cult. Worst of all, it happened precisely by their design. It started with an iPod as a present. From there, I got a Shuffle, then a MacBook and then an iPhone.

    These items have somehow placed themselves squarely in my daily routine and now it’s hard to think what life was like before I had them. I’ve gone to Apple’s ultra modern-looking store in Georgetown several times and the young folks there have been remarkably professional.

    Today’s WSJ takes a fascinating look at the Apple stores:

    More people now visit Apple’s 326 stores in a single quarter than the 60 million who visited Walt Disney Co.’s four biggest theme parks last year, according to data from Apple and the Themed Entertainment Association. Apple’s annual retail sales per square foot have soared to $4,406—excluding online sales, according to investment bank Needham & Co. Add in online sales, which include iTunes, and the number jumps to $5,914. That’s far higher than the sales per square foot and online sales of jeweler Tiffany & Co. ($3,070), luxury retailer Coach Inc. ($1,776), and electronics retailer Best Buy Co. ($880), according to estimates.

    With their airy interiors and attractive lighting, Apple’s stores project a carefree and casual atmosphere. Yet Apple keeps a tight lid on how they operate. Employees are ordered to not discuss rumors about products, technicians are forbidden from prematurely acknowledging widespread glitches and anyone caught writing about the Cupertino, Calif., company on the Internet is fired, according to current and former employees.

    I find it interesting that Apple has laid out its stores on the “shopping experience” instead of just being a warehouse of goods. Even though the stores are airy, every part of an Apple store is specifically designed to help the customer.

    I think it’s fascinating that aesthetics play such a key role in how customers make their decisions. This, of course, is nothing new. Starbucks ($SBUX) realized this lesson years ago. People don’t just buy coffee. They go for the coffee experience (great brand name, btw).

  • WSJ Table on CEO Compensation
    , May 9th, 2011 at 9:30 am

    The Wall Street Journal has a cool table today on CEO compensation at 350 top companies. Oracle‘s ($ORCL) Larry Ellison pulled in $68 million while Steve Jobs at Apple ($AAPL) made nothing.

  • Nine Stocks Up over 900% Since 9/11
    , May 5th, 2011 at 9:05 am

    Jeff Reeves lists nine stocks that have risen over 900% since 9/11.

    Here’s a summary:

    Apple ($AAPL) +3,930%

    Amazon ($AMZN) +2,120%

    CNOOC ($CEO) +1,140%

    Green Mountain Coffee ($GMCR) +2,840%

    HMS Holdings ($HMSY) +4,670%

    Imax Corp. ($IMAX) +3,390%

    Intuitive Surgical ($ISRG) +1,830%

    F5 Networks ($FFIV) +1,170%

    Priceline ($PCLN) +1,530%