Apple has just announced it’s best quarter EVER, but the stock is taking a pounding on Wall Street.
Apple announced earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2013: $54.5 billion and a net profit of $13.1 billion. But the stock is down more than 4% in after-hours trading because Wall Street is worried that Apple’s phenomenal growth is slowing. Don’t you love how a record-breaking quarter is still considered an “ouch?”
Apple was expected to report decent numbers despite the public’s perception that Apple’s streak of runaway sales of iPhones and iPads is plateauing. AAPL has been falling due to a number of factors, including analysts’ low predictions for the next March 2013 quarter. Apple is printing money, but not fast enough for Wall Street.
Apple will announce its quarterly earnings for the 2012 holiday season tomorrow, and investors are nervous. The company’s stock has been on quite the roller coaster ride since its $700 high back in September 2012. AAPL is now trading right around $500, which is the lowest it has been in more than six months.
Recent reports have said that demand for products like the iPhone is faltering. That’s why it may come as a surprise that Wall Street expects Apple to have its best earnings report ever tomorrow. So is it a good time to sell AAPL? Now may actually be the best time to buy.
No one tell former Vice President Al Gore that it’s a bad time to buy AAPL. He just exercised a big chunk of his Apple stock options, walking off with $29 million worth of shares at a steep discount.
Think back to your life 10 years ago. Now think about this: if you would have invested $10,000 in Microsoft stock then, you would now have $13,000. If you would have invested the same amount into Apple, you would now be sitting on $700,000.
What would Apple’s late CEO be impressed with from this year? (AP)
Steve Jobs was passionate about a lot of things: simplicity, challenging the status quo, creating products that people loved, etc. He was a man of many shining strengths and deep personality flaws. As one of the most dynamic titans to ever grace the tech industry, one can only imagine what Jobs would think of Apple in 2012. How would he have handled Mapgate? We’ll never know.
Based on what we do know about the late CEO, there are several things Jobs would have definitely been proud of at Apple in 2012.
Apple stock has been climbing rapidly towards $700 per share since the iPhone 5 was announced Wednesday, September 12th. Now, less than a week after the announcement from Apple, AAPL has hit $700 in after hours trading, marking an all-time high.
Despite iPhone 5 naysayers, Apple remains the most valuable company in the world by a large margin.
Apple announced a $45 billion stock dividend and repurchase plan back in March, and the company starts paying its investors today, August 16th. $2.65 per share will be payed out for all owned shares of record as of Monday, August 13th.
Today marks the first dividend Apple has payed out since 1995. If you own Apple stock, you should see the payment deposited in your brokerage account before the day is over.
According to Barron’s today, Apple tops the list of tech companies keeping large amounts of cash reserves overseas. Barron’s quotes Moody’s Investor Services as estimating Apple’s overseas cash supply at $74 billion, which is higher than the $64 billion of last year.
Apple isn’t the only technology company sending cash and other liquid investments out of the country, of course. Microsoft comes in second place with an estimated $50 billion in cash, while Cisco and Oracle are estimated to have $42.3 and $25.1 billion socked away in cash, respectively.
I'd dance, too, if I still owned all those AAPL shares I had in the 90s
Not only does Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster see Apple’s and its investors’ financial outlook as essentially rosy for the foreseeable future, but he’s taking it one step further. He’s convinced that he has at least ten reasons to stay bullish on Apple stock over the next three years. He also thinks the stock price is going to hit $1000 per share.
Apple's stock could reach $750 according to analyst Andy Zaky.
After Wednesday’s wild ride, Apple’s stock price was down even lower yesterday – trading around $530 (it’s still in that range this morning). That price prompted Andy Zaky of Bullish Cross to issue a rare buy rating for the Apple’s stock.
This is only the fifth time that Zaky has publishing a buy rating for Apple. The last time was nearly a year ago on June 20 when Apple bottomed at $310.50 a share ahead of a strong July rally that in which it grew by 30%.
![5 Things Steve Jobs Would Have Been Proud Of At Apple In 2012 [Feature]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Steve-Jobs.jpg "Steve Jobs")
![Apple Stock Will Hit $1000, Says Gene Munster [Report]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Munster-Apple-Bullish.jpg)
