Despite Apple’s $50 billion quarter with $10 billion in profit, the January to March period marked Apple’s first quarter in 13 years without growth including year-over-year iPhone sales declines for the first time. Apple set the expectations back in January, but its stock still took a beating after this week’s earnings report. Now activist investor Carl Icahn, who has been very noisy about what he thinks Apple should do in the past, tells CNBC he has sold his massive share of Apple stock. Icahn once owned nearly 1% of Apple’s shares, and publicizing that he’s out of the stock will likely influence other investors to follow.
Exactly when Icahn sold the bulk of his stock and how much it was valued at is unclear, but my guess is the billionaire got out ahead of this week’s big drop. Icahn made news earlier this year, however, when it was discovered through disclosure that the billionaire investor had sold 45.7 million shares of AAPL valued at around $750 million. AAPL is down around 1.76% today.
Icahn told CNBC that Apple CEO Tim Cook is doing a great job and the investor notified Cook about his exit from the stock, but China’s view of Apple currently is a factor in his decision to exit the stock.
“You worry a little bit — and maybe more than a little — about China’s attitude,” Icahn said, later adding that China’s government could “come in and make it very difficult for Apple to sell there… you can do pretty much what you want there.”
Tim Cook spoke optimistically about China in the long term on Monday, but acknowledged that the wind is no longer at Apple’s back in the same way it previously was in the region. Apple’s revenue dropped 26% year-over-year in China, which has been a growth region for the company in previous quarters.
Icahn has previously been quite vocal about his investments in Apple’s stock, often sending the price climbing after announcing large share purchases; the billionaire investor has also called AAPL undervalued at several points in the past and pushed for Apple to increase its share buyback program time and again.
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Smart guy
Sorry to burst your bubble but Apple is not dead, not doomed, not failing, not on the way out, not losing money. I know this is probably your fervent wish and wet dream but not today.
How is it not losing money if its market cap dropped 40 billion?
Serge, realize that market cap is literally stocks outstanding times price per share. The fact that theirs can drop $40 billion and they be unaffected is a testament to how big they are tbh. Actually ridiculous
@sergeponomaryov: Losing money and losing value are quite different. A company is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Since investors are selling their stakes, their value decreases, not affecting how much AAPL has in the bank. They are still making profits, but do need to step up their game.
Apple stock is only worth having because of its potential price. I (and this billionaire investor) think that Apple stock will not grow any further and that its a smart move to find more profitable stocks.
I know the 15~20% product sales decline must have hurt you. But you should take it out with the ones running the company not me.
Apple is not losing money, they still had over 10 billion in PROFIT last quarter.
Absolutely wonderful news! Ichan has ruined many a fine company and left the carcass to rot in the sun. If you are from around St. Louis you’ll remember what he did with TWA, one of the biggest and best airlines.
I totally agree with you about Ichan exiting Apple!
It scared me when he started buying big blocks years ago – Good Riddance to this vulture!
Started buy and then “crying” publicly that Apple needed to use it’s money to Buy Back stock. Tim did start a buy back plan but it wasn’t as fast as Icahn had hoped. He makes more money now by dumping and then re-investing when the prices have been driven low enough for him to jump back on. All those jumping out now (post Icahn) will be the losers in this.
Ichan?
Ichan?
Good riddance to bad rubbish. He has done massive damage to America over the decades and I for one will raise a glass when the weasel is gone.
I don’t know enough about stocks to have any opinion about this, but I do think that Apple is in for some trouble.
Not doomed, not going to be dead, just will be a bit tougher for them. This whole encryption debacle is going to be a thorn in their side for a long time, and also, when it comes to policy like that, China actually looks to us and then usually follows.
The future isn’t looking so bright when you have idiots and nincompoops running the country who don’t even understand what encryption is, the only thing they know is that “we need to keep safe from the terrorists”
The encryption debacle is irrelevant.
Explain?
Apple looks like they’re going to dip further over the next few months, especially if the new iPhones are just a slight improvement over the 6s. 2017, though, looks like the year they recapture the thunder. Especially if the design changes are as extensive as many rumor them to be
And yet they’re the only company that has this issue. The Galaxy S7 had barely any design changes from the S6 and the waterproofing and expandable memory were features in the S5 that Samsung dumped in the S6. So suddenly waterproofing and expandable memory feel new again when clearly they’re’ not.
Then again Samsung makes almost everything from TV’s to phones to laptops to dish washers and office copiers. They have a very large portfolio which affords them the luxury of being able to play it safe and still keep expectations of their profits relatively low.
And frankly if Apple is in trouble because of the flooded market then so is everyone else.
Apple stock is gonna rise thanks to this awesome news. Smart move!
Uh, AAPL is down 3.11 from close yesterday on this news. I hope you don’t have any money in the stock market, because I don’t think you understand how it works.
Currently up $.34 in aftermarket trading as institutional investors get a grip on this. I went all-in at 97 yesterday and I also view CI getting out as positive news. Apple has, is and will do fine without him and his ‘advice’. Stocks (especially AAPL) move erratically. Any business that has 200+ Billion in the bank, has huge profit margins and a rabid fan base is a company I want to own a part of. Just because they can no longer sustain their crazy level of growth does not make Apple a loser except in the minds of reactionary inventors.
Sure we do. This is a great opportunity to buy AAPL!
Apple is in the business of making good products. It needs to concentrate on that. Particularly on the Mac. What Apple is not in the business of doing is making some slime-ball who is already rich, richer.
Apple should *not* focus on the Mac. Computers are a dying product for the entire industry. Everyone is moving away from that since it’s a mature market, jus like smartphones.
Apple *is* shifting away from a goods & products company to a services company. Services pulled in more revenue this past quarter (12%) than both the iPad or Mac business. That’s where the money is. Apple has 1 billion users between Mac and iOS so it should be easy to capitalize on that HUGE user base and make money by selling them services.
True about the services but without the hardware to integrate these services they are no better than Spotify or Amazon. So Apple services thrives because of the hardware. Example: If the Apple Music Store would have launched without or before the iPod then Apple’s fate would have been the same as Commodore. It was the cool looking very efficient MP3 player than was originally Mac OS X only that gave life to iTunes.
You don’t understand Apple at all. The reason Apple has services and software is exclusively to sell hardware. If you think it’s the other way around, you don’t understand Apple at all.
Apple is big and diversified enough that they should be able to make significant advances in all of their markets. This really hasn’t been that evident of late, and that’s confusing for me. However, to think that the Mac is a dying product shows lack of understanding in the enterprise sector! The Mac continues to grow its base, while all PCs are declining. Macs need a very solid update, which the MacBook didn’t get, and that’s why I think there’s trepidation in peoples’ minds. The laptop market is still growing, but the desktops are not, though they should be! Artists, designers, musicians, videographers, photographers, Audio Engineers, CAD/CAM, etc., need big screens and lots of power. So I’m at a loss for any reason that the MacPro has not been updated in so long. The iMac 27″ 5K is an absolute stunner, but needs Intel’s more powerful chips, more RAM more ways to expand to meet the different markets it serves.
“What Apple is not in the business of doing is making some slime-ball who is already rich, richer.” Did you manage to keep a straight face when typing that?
The WHOLE purpose of a business such as Apple’s is to squeeze as much money as possible from Joe Public so that each and every shareholder can become richer.
What planet do you live on?
What Apple is about is making incredibly good hardware driven by just works software. Sure, to make money, just like you and me and every other human on this earth, but my passion is not to make money, and I am pretty sure, neither was Steve Jobs. If you think the only thing that matters is to make lots of money, you will never have the best product/service. EVER!
Nasty, foolish “lady”. Your cynicism is palpable. Your loyalty is no doubt to Walmart. It’s sad that you don’t know quality, and only think cheap, cheaper and cheapest!
Agreed. This is actually the job of any corporation…To make as much money as possible while spending the least amount & hiring \ paying the least amount of people. Corporations are essentially profit driven robots.
And it is at that point that Apple became less Apple like. They used to focus on the best possible experience in hardware and software, which resulted in them making money. Now they focus on quantity to the point where product lines are starting to confuse the user, and software rolled out so fast it’s full, I mean LOADED with bugs. This may give them good earnings for a few years, but then market sentiment shifts, and it will be incredibly difficult to change that.
i wish i had made that decision 2 weeks ago, just kidding i should have gotten out a year ago.
Maybe you should get out now? So we can tell ya not to let the door hit your ass on the way out?
How much money is this Wall Street shark getting from competitors to bash Apple, uh? He should be put in jail!
I cringed when Icahn took an interest AAPL. He bought 1% of the stock and acts like he owns the joint. He’s an “activist” who squeezes management to make bad decisions for short term increase in stock price… the then dumps the stock, takes his million$ and seeks another victim… and the company is left to pick up the pieces.
Icahn dumping AAPL is the best news I’ve heard all day. Tim Cook and Apple’s Board weathered Typhoon Icahn. Good job.
It is most likely that Icahn is manipulating the stock with this “press release”, only to wait for a buy back. That is what he does Big moves to make the price change as he wants. Why would he even say anything other than to manipulate the price for a re-buy.
Sure. That’s because he couldn’t bully Apple into doing a buy back where he would have personally made another couple billion in profit.
it is sickening to watch the apple management turns a blind eye on the blatant manipulation on it’s stock on wall street that has been going on forever. I guess no one on the apple board understands its fiduciary duty to shareholders, or they are just there to cash out their millions of stock options now and then.
Apple’s stock is no more manipulated than any other stock with apple’s recent growth patterns.
For the record, I’m still an investor. Everyone calm down.
Me too! Optimistically and proudly so.
“Despite Apple’s $50 billion quarter with $10 billion in revenue,” should read “Despite Apple’s $50 billion quarter with $10 billion in net earnings,”
Would be nice to stop hearing from him about it.
And, the Haters have started their “. . . Apple is Dead without Steve” rants.
Do us a favor – buy a MS-Based PC and an Android-Based phone and haunt those forums!
Thank you
Icahn’s pure bullshit. As usual.
Good, now maybe the stupid buybacks, options and relentless worry about share price will go away. Right on schedule I might add.
I hate these capitalits ruin the world!
I mean capitalists
Indeed. If capitalists* ran the world, imagine how many more opportunities we’d all have.
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not with that short and tie combo
Apple needs to make a powerful acquisition in the streaming services industry to complement its other services products like AppleTV–like Hulu, Netflix, or AMC. This would send a powerful message to investors that Apple is willing to move in that direction.
Ditch the silly Apple car and just buy Tesla. With just a 30B market cap, Apple could easily purchase Tesla for less than half of its cash on hand! Imagine the ease of having your phone, watch, and car working in complete harmony!
“Exactly when Icahn sold the bulk of his stock and how much it was valued at is unclear…”
Did you even watch the video in your own article?
The winds will turn with ‘India’
I think China can be a big issue for apple, cause it’s now Apple’s largest market so i’m wondering what will happen if China starts asking Apple for some access to some specific users informations or specific services (cause it’s China communism like to control evreything) which are against apple’s politic, and if Apple refuses to obey they can face sanctions and sees their sales dropping like crazy there, I think Apple should find a way to not depend or rely on china that much…
how funny to see all those 9to5mac users (bloggers, journalists, youtubers, … maybe even jobless ppl ) writing their pathetic fantasies according to which Icahn “is wrong”, consuming their fingers on the keyboard criticing his strategy
( Icahn is one of the most successful man in the history of hedge funds, an industry actually employing the smartest guys in the world )
guys, you can write watever you want, those kind of thoughts prove only your ridiculousness :)
you’d be better comment only apple watch shape….
I have listen to him on CNBC and other media outlet. He was pushing Apple to give out dividend and buyback shares because Apple had large sum on cash. He said, he is in Apple for long. Tim Cook is mild nature person unlike Steve Jobs who would think about Apple and it’s average share holder to keep company more secured and have money on hand for continuous innovation.
These hedge fund dogs are like prostitute. Makes, money and move on.Leave behind skeletons for others to worry.
Smart man. Tim Cook has been pushed in to replace Steve Jobs to tank the company for a buy out by Google. The board of directors never searched for a qualified replacement. Tim’s background completely lacks credibility when it comes to running Apple. Steve Jobs was falsely quoted saying Tim would be a good replacement. It never happened. Apple is a done deal. You have seen its best moments.