Research archive for AAPL

There's been a cult like surge in the fight for fitness space. To a point where annuity like businesses have been popping up all over the place. Take the stationary bike startup Peloton for example. Their edge is that you can enjoy the cycling experience in the comfort of your own home.

Technology stocks slipped again in New York last night, largely because shares of Apple fell sharply, closing down by 3.96% at $185.86 per share.

Shares in Apple dipped in New York last night, to below $200 per share. The reason was that Lumentum Holdings, which supplies parts for the Face ID feature on the latest Apple iPhones, lowered its sales and profit forecasts, citing an "order cut by a large unnamed customer".

Yesterday after market close, Apple released a set of numbers that can be best described as lukewarm. I say lukewarm because this was Apple's best September quarter ever and the company beat analysts expectations on both revenues and profits. However, the company sold fewer iPhones than analysts expected, 46.89 million as compared to 47.5 million. However this came at a higher average price of $793 as compared to a projected $750.78.

Almost all of our Vestact clients in New York own Apple shares, and those aggregate positions are now worth just under $20 million. So we had a lot riding on Apple's annual new product reveal last night. The event was led by Apple CEO Tim Cook and was held at the Steve Jobs Theatre at their new $5 billion campus in Cupertino, California.

On Tuesday night we received excellent earnings from Apple. Almost every Vestact client in New York owns Apple, and we have recommended them for a very long time. This was their best June quarter ever. Remember, this is usually a dull period for Apple because there a no new product launches, and the festive season excitement has long gone. What was key here, was that even though iPhone sales only grew by 1%, revenues for iPhones increased by 20% because the iPhone X is much more expensive than previous products.

Slowly but surely Apple has become less reliant on the iPhone. Many people talk about software as their next big profit driver, I do agree with this but don't underestimate the accessories division. This Business Insider article points out that accessories sales have doubled since 2015 after going through a serious slump because of a decline in iPod sales.

iPhone maker Apple is the second most widely held stock in Vestact client New York portfolios. It put out the first quarter (January to end-March) results after the market closed on Wall Street last night. They topped expectations, and the share price rose by another 4% in late trade, to $175 per share.

On Thursday Apple reported their 1Q numbers. This is their most important quarter because it covers the Christmas shopping season. Over the last three months, Apple had revenues of $88 billion, making it their biggest quarter ever! For comparison, that is roughly the size of Sri Lanka or twice the size of Ghana. Apple sells more in three months than the Ghanaian economy produces in two years!

Scott Galloway was asked how the cult of Apple developed. This is what he had to say: So if we have our religion, Steve Jobs is our god. We no longer worship at the altar of kindness or character, but we worship the altar of innovation and shareholder value. This is the individual who's vision and genius created more shareholder value than any company in history. Which is effectively how we decide who our Jesus Christ is in a capitalist society.

It was a good year for Apple according to the stock market. The share price is up 60% from precisely 1-year ago. When those full-year results were released in November 2016 there were big concerns about a lack of innovation and how the jewel of the crown, the iPhone, was losing its shine. On the 2nd of November this year Apple released its full-year numbers for the year ending 30 September 2017, which painted a very different picture to these "expectations" from a year ago.

The Apple event didn't disappoint last night. Even before the product unveiling, we got the first glimpses of the Steve Jobs Theatre. The sunken theatre has a ground level cylindrical entrance, where the roof floats as it sits above reinforced glass. Unfortunately, many of the products being unveiled were leaked before the event, where one commentator joked that the only thing we don't know is if the new iPhone X will be pronounced as 'ten' or 'X'.

The third quarter is usually the most boring in Apple's cycle. That is because it is the quarter before new product releases are announced which also coincides with the festive season. Not much was expected of last night's results. I must say, I was expecting a disappointment because I personally know a few people who are holding out on renewing their contracts until the new Apple phone is released, hopefully in September.

Loads of Apple articles last week, Michael and I have put together all the links that we think you need (you are welcome), in order to see how far the product has come. There are some suggestions that the smartphone of the future may be glasses, or more augmented reality. The fact is that the iPhone is the most successful consumer product of all time. Last week marked the 10 year anniversary of the iPhone, here are a couple of links to celebrate the occasion. First off here is Steve Jobs introducing it - Steve Jobs' iPhone 2007 Presentation.

Apple started their annual World Wide Developers Conference in San Jose with a bang yesterday - Apple Special Event. June 5, 2017. A whole host of new products. The opening is hilarious. It takes place in a world without the luxuries of the apps and the iPhone. A world too wild to remember, yet that was a little over ten years ago. The first three minutes intro of the opening note is what I am talking about.