Following several reports this month and hints from Tim Cook that Retina iPad mini stock could be in short supply when the device launches next month, the hit and miss DigiTimes reports today that the shortages are due to limited supply of displays from Apple’s supplier Sharp. Specifically, the report claims that Sharp’s “Oxide TFT process is seeing low yield rates” leading to a less than ideal supply of 7.9-inch Retina panels. Sharp accounts for around 40% of the displays for iPad mini with Retina display production, while LG Display is providing the other approximately 60%, according to the report: Expand Expanding Close
A chart posted by Fortune showing what happened to Apple’s stock price for 12 months before and after each new iPhone launch shows that it rose after four of the six launches.
Conventional wisdom says that Apple traders buy the rumor and sell the news, but the series of stock charts Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore shared with clients Monday suggest the opposite.
The brief piece explains the exceptions by observing that the 3G launched just before a major recession and the iPhone 5 when the stock was already at an all-time high, but we wouldn’t suggest investing any money on the basis of those six squiggly lines …
Update: BTIG’s Waltyer Piecyk has posted some more short-term historical data, suggesting that the separation of iPhone announcements from WWDC ended the ‘sell on the news’ phenomenon:
Following comments from billionaire investor Carl Icahn that he had taken a “large position” in Apple and discussed a larger buyback with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple’s stock experienced a new six-month high of over $488 per share. Today, AAPL continues to climb and has passed the $500 mark for the first time in nearly eight months since January 23rd.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal yesterday, Icahn noted that he expects Apple shares will soon rise above $600 and explained his proposal for increasing the stock buyback:
“This is a no-brainer to go buy stock in a company that can go borrow” at a low rate, Mr. Icahn said in an interview. “Buy the company here and even without earnings growth, we think it ought to be worth $625,” he said, referring to the stock price, which closed Tuesday at $489.57, having risen 5% on the news of Mr. Icahn’s investment.
Mr. Icahn’s thesis rests on Apple borrowing at about a 3% interest rate and buying back shares right now, likely at around $525 a piece. A stock buyback can increase earnings per share by reducing the number of shares outstanding.
While Icahn didn’t provide any financial details, WSJ adds that sources say his stake in Apple is now worth over $1.5 billion. Expand Expanding Close
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.
Former Apple Retail Chief Ron Johnson is out at JCPenney after his radical retail redesign failed to ignite sales in the same manner in which Apple Stores had grown accustomed. Ron Johnson left Apple in 2011 for the JCP job after a decade at Apple. He helped design the original Apple Store concept after being lured away from Target by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He pioneered concepts like the Genius Bar which was unheard of at the time but still a growing trend in the industry.
We know more than a few folks who would like to see him back at Apple which meanwhile has found him difficult to replace. One such attempt was the hiring and subsequent firing of John Browett, a former Dixon’s UK CEO.
Johnson continued to live in the Bay area during his stint at JCP commuting to Plano Texas via Jet so…
In October, Apple stock dropped below 600 for the first time since July. Since then, following a number of new product launches, AAPL has continued to fall and now only sits slightly higher than last week at roughly 550 per share and a market cap of $518 billion. While many have pointed to uncertainty regarding new product launches and executive level changes as the cause of Apple’s falling share price, no one quite has a definitive answer for why AAPL has hit a nearly six-month low. In a report today, titled “A dramatic reading of Apple’s share price”, Asymco analyst Horace Dediu might have the answer.
Dediu studied 13 bear AAPL markets starting with the October 2001 launch of the iPod. As noted in the report, Apple’s stock had just fallen 70 percent year-over-year and continued to drop another 20 percent following the iPod launch. However, since the iPhone launch, Dediu found “every dramatic drop in share price was followed by a surge in earnings growth.” The graph above maps earnings growth following bear Apple markets since the 2007 iPhone introduction.
So, why exactly does this happen? Dediu explained his theory:
Apple’s stock has been on quite the dip this past month, losing 125 points in 41 days, and falling from a high of over 700 on iPhone 5 launch day. For those who took some analysts’ advice bought at October highs,that’s got to sting. Today, the stock sits at 576, unfathomably low for those left to deal with their stock having lost over $100B in market cap.
But is now the time to buy?
With holiday sales about to kick into full gear with Apple’s new product line, stock may shoot to 1000 sometime in 2013…or it may not.
BullishCross said yes on October 10th, when the share price was just a bit higher than today:
Apple has reached one of those very rare buy points. However, unlike our previous five recommendations, we do not necessarily believe that Apple has bottomed right here at $630 a share. We just believe that Apple won’t see much lower prices from here thereby making this a unique buying opportunity. It’s better to buy at $630 and accept a small potential drawdown than to miss the entire move. We do not believe Apple will see levels below $615 a share. Thus, anything between $615 and $630 is an extraordinary buying opportunity. Between $630 and $650, you have a great entry level.
iPad mini window display from NorthStar Mall, San Antonio (via <a href="https://twitter.com/alanweinkrantz/status/264338171469369344">@alanweinkrantz</a>)
iPad mini officially went on sale at 8 a.m. this morning and reports are already starting to flow in that many Apple Stores have sold out of initial stock. Topeka Capital’s Brian White released a note to clients this morning (via BusinessInsider) that noted all models of iPad mini sold out in just over two hours at Apple’s flagship Fifth Avenue New York City store. Before today’s launch, shipment dates for Apple’s online pre-orders of the device had been pushed back, while shipment dates for pre-ordered LTE models of the device were recently removed.
Now reports indicate stores in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada, and many other states from Alabama to Hawaii have sold out of initial supplies.
It’s unclear just how much stock Apple had delivered to its various stores and resellers, but we noted earlier today that lines were much smaller than usual at many locations. The lines were most likely due to the fact today’s launch included just the Wi-Fi-only model, but it looks like Apple is still not able to meet demand in many locations. Some stores were rumored to get about 100 units, as noted in the tweet above, while we heard bigger stores received as many as 300.
Judging by the collection of tweets that we put together below, Apple is quickly selling out of initial iPad mini stock in many locations around the globe. Most stores are not expecting additional shipments today:
With an announcement tomorrow in New York City and an earnings call on Jan. 24, Apple Inc., has reached an all-time high of $429.47 per share on today’s market, and it closed at $429.11. Being up more than four points today, Apple is continuing to close in on a $400B market cap and sits at just $398.70B at closing.
Apple is expected to have had a record breaking Q1, which will be reported in an earnings call with CEO Tim Cook on Jan. 24. With the help of holiday sales, some analysts predict Apple sold 5 million Macs and around 30 million iPhones.
Tomorrow’s media event in New York City also added to today’s stock frenzy. Apple is expected to make a major announcement in the textbook industry. There have been many reports that Apple made the necessary partnerships with publishers, and may even launch its own textbook creation tool — which Ars Technica called a “GarageBand for e-books.” Apple teased the event as an education announcement. Per usual, 9to5Mac will be covering both events. Tomorrow’s event begins at 10 a.m., so stick with us for coverage. Any final predictions?
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