Apple profits may have fallen for the first time in a decade, says analysts

Ben Lovejoy

A set of 14 analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg predicts that Apple’s quarterly profits – due to be reported tomorrow – will have fallen for the first time since 2003.

An earnings report tomorrow may show that fiscal second- quarter net income declined 18 percent to $9.53 billion, or $10.02 a share, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue is projected to show a rise of 8 percent to $42.4 billion, the slowest growth rate since 2009 … Read more

Apple stock drops to lowest point since 2011, AAPL drops below $400 per share

9to5Mac

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Update: AAPL has briefly dipped below 400 and continues to trade around that mark.

This morning, Apple’s stock has reached its lowest levels per share since late 2011. Since the beginning of 2012, Apple’s stock has rallied all the way up to over $700 per share, but since the end of the 2012, the stock has gone through a downward spiral. Today, the stock is trading at a little over $400 per share, with a daily low of $400.78. These numbers are in the same territory as late 2011 values per share, the same time when Tim Cook took over as CEO.

Chart of Aug-Oct. 2011 below:

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Apple under fire from governments in both hemispheres over alleged anti-competitive practices

Ben Lovejoy

Apple may face an anti-trust investigation in Europe over its iPhone contracts with carriers as it defends itself against separate investigations for alleged price gouging in Australia.

Apple was informed last year that it would be required to attend a hearing by Australia’s Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications to explain why its pricing of digital content was higher in Australia than in the United States. The hearing is now underway, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, with Apple asked to explain why content sold through iTunes is marked up between 30 and 70 percent higher than in the U.S. Apple is blaming wholesale pricing agreements in the country.

“The pricing of this digital content is based on the wholesale prices which are set through negotiated contracts with the record labels, movie studios and TV networks,” said Mr King, who is Apple’s vice president for Australia, New Zealand and South Asia.

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Google and Apple stock prices in 2013 look like a zero-sum game

E. Betters

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AAPL stock has been in the news a lot lately, whether it comes to Warren Buffett’s opinion on buy-backs, the issue of preferred stock, or even its teetering market cap, but a closer look at the company’s NASDAQ fluctuation over the last year oddly shows a parallel to GOOG.

The graph above illustrates both Apple and Google’s highs and lows since September 2012, and, for the most part, they clearly mirror each other. The companies notably entered the zero-sum game in December 2012 and have continued this trend to present day.

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The graph above is a more micro look at 2013, and it shows, again, that Google goes up every time Apple goes down.

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Liveblog: Apple’s Q1 2013 earnings results conference call

Jordan Kahn

As previously announced, today Apple is reporting its Q1 2013 earnings results. There is much uncertainty going into today’s call with Apple shares down significantly in recent months to roughly $500 since hitting a high of over $700 per share in September. With the iPhone 5 landing in a total of 100 countries last month, as well as iPad mini making its way to new markets, Wall Street estimates Apple will report between 47.5 million and 53 million iPhones sold and iPad sales between 23 million and 25 million. Compare that with Apple’s Q1 numbers last year: 37 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads sold. Earlier this week Verizon reported 6.2M iPhone activations for the quarter, around half of which were iPhone 5 sales.

We’ll be providing blow-by-blow coverage of the earnings call in our live blog below at 2 PM Pacific/5 PM Eastern time. Stay tuned to 9to5Mac.com’s homepage for additional coverage:

Head below for updates… Read more