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Apple's 'iSlate' and other rumors that have given its stock a holiday boost
The Apple tablet rumors are at a fever pitch, yet again. Depending on what you've read, it's all but confirmed that the company's got a January 26th event scheduled at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco, CA. All this, of course, with nary a word or comment from Cupertino HQ, and without the context that this trend has come and gone ad nauseam, both with the tablet and before with the years of lead-up to the iPhone. Here's the latest bit: MacRumors has dug up information about a Delaware-based company, Slate Computing, LLC, that was founded in November 2006 and owns the trademark "iSlate," the signatory of said trademark being Apple's Senior Trademark Specialist Regina Porter. Given that Apple owns "iSlate" trademark in Europe and that it's allegedly pulled similar stunts with a "fake" company and the iPhone trademark, sure, we could buy into this being just a dummy corporation... but does it really confirm an impending tablet that'll be called the "iSlate?" Not at all. We wouldn't be surprised if Apple has done this for numerous other trademarks, either to give itself more options or to prevent others from trying to manufacture products under those names. (Slate Computing, LLC also happens to own the "Magic Slate" trademark, just so you know.) Also bought up in 2006? The domain iSlate.com, which again according to MacRumors (with help form Mark Gurman of AppleRejectedMe.com) was apparently and briefly shown to be owned by Apple at some point during 2007. Food for thought, but trust us, you don't want to confuse hearsay for concrete fact. Which brings us to December 24th, where we see a statistically significant uptick in Apple's stock value. Seeing as the fiscals were released back in late October along with the last refresh of hardware (Mac Pro specs notwithstanding), it seems everyone decided to spend their holiday bonuses on some Apple shares. Now, we're not claiming to be professionals here by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems a lot of the activity here can be attributed to the recent flux of rumors. Jason Schwarz of The Street has an interesting take on it, which if you've got 15 minutes to kill should be worth your time to browse through.
AAPL hits all-time high
Steve Jobs' Disney stocks aren't the only thing making him rich -- AAPL has hit an all time high, according to MacRumors, thanks to the big announcements earlier this week, both on the online store and during the conference call. Before opening this morning, it was at 204.72, but the high yesterday was a whopping 208.71, the best the company's ever seen, beating the previous high of 199.83, set in December of 2007. And it's been a heck of a year: the stock was trading in the mid 80s this past January, though that may have been more of a sign of the economy at large than Apple's fortunes specifically. Boy, it would have been nice to buy back then, wouldn't it have? $5,000 of Apple's shares in January would be worth $13,000 yesterday. Just goes to show you can't keep a good fruit down. You can track all the AAPL financial news on our sister sites Blogging Stocks and Daily Finance.
Jobs to miss Apple shareholder meeting this week
Bloomberg is reporting that Steve Jobs will not attend this week's Apple shareholder meeting. That's not a big surprise -- Jobs' health has kept him from attending recent usual events, including Macworld earlier this year. But it is the first time in the over 10 years since he rejoined the company that he won't be appearing at the annual meeting.Additionally, at this week's meeting, as usual, shareholders will vote on whether or not to re-elect Apple's directors to their one-year terms, including Jobs, though nothing is expected to change -- the company has remained strongly in support of Jobs as leader, even if they haven't talked about his health as much as some investors may have liked. COO Tim Cook will likely run most of the planned activities during the meeting.We'll keep an eye on any news that comes out of the closed meeting (streams and transcripts won't be available, but there will be reporters in attendance), and let you know what we hear. As always, we wish Jobs and his company and family the best of health, and hope he is able to feel better soon.[via CNET]
Nokia, Microsoft drop while Apple stock soars
While Apple stock is up over seven percent since its positive earnings report and conference call yesterday afternoon, both Nokia and Microsoft have released dourer reports about their financial outlook. Microsoft said that it will lay off up to 5,000 people, about five percent of its workforce, over the next year and a half, according to the Seattle P-I. 1,400 of those jobs would be eliminated today. The news comes as the company announced earnings per share two cents less than their quarterly guidance -- 47 cents versus 49 cents -- on revenues of $16.63 billion. Analysts had expected revenues upwards of $17 billion. Nokia today posted a 69 percent drop in profits for its last quarter [Ed. Note: source link broken]. Nokia stock earned 15 euro-cent per share in profit, compared with 47 euro-cent in the same quarter last year. Sales fell 19 percent to €12.66 billion, missing forecasts of €13 billion. What can we take away from this? Perhaps this is understating things, but Apple appears to be doing very well against its competitors. In yesterday's conference call, the company announced that it had grown sales and revenue even in the face of challenging worldwide economic conditions. In both retail and iPod sales, much of the growth was outside the United States. Apple sold 88 percent more iPhones than they did the same time last year, although much of that may be attributed to pent-up demand for the iPhone 3G. At midday, AAPL is $10 higher than its record-low close on Tuesday, trading at around $88 per share. Both NOK and MSFT are trading down about $1.65 each. [Via Daring Fireball.] Update: Sony, too: It's posting a record annual loss of $3 billion, and plans to close factories and lay off workers.
Apple releases 2009 proxy statement
Yesterday, Apple released a proxy statement detailing the financial compensation that executives enjoy as part of their participation on the board of directors. Steve Jobs retained his $1 salary for 2008, but has over 5.5 million shares of Apple stock, which is worth over $500 million on paper. Jobs is worth about $5.7 billion, thanks largely to the fact that he's Disney's largest individual shareholder. Fidelity Investments continues to be Apple's largest investor with over 46 million shares of stock. There are five shareholder proposals up for voting this time around: Proposal 1 asks to re-elect the board of directors, consisting of Steve Jobs, William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Al Gore, Andrea Jung, Arthur Levinson, Eric Schmidt, and Jerry York. Proposal 2 asks for more transparency surrounding Apple's political contributions. Proposal 3 asks the company to adopt a statement supporting universal health care for everyone, and not just employees. Proposal 4 asks the company to release a report on corporate strategies surrounding climate change and greenhouse gas emissions before July. Proposal 5 asks to adopt a policy that gives shareholders more input on executive compensation. (Thanks, Scott!) The board of directors, perhaps not surprisingly, recommends approving the first proposal, and rejecting the other four. The proxy statement is available from Apple's Investor Relations website, and will not be mailed to shareholders unless requested. [Via MacDailyNews.]
AAPL falls $6.27 during rough trading day
AAPL fell 6.57 percent today after the Macworld announcements yesterday and a general retreat among tech-sector stocks. The company's stock closed at $89.16 per share, and over 42 million shares changed hands. A lot of the selling was done last night in after-hours trading, with the stock opening the day's trading this morning around $91 a share. In related news today, Oppenheimer Funds cut its rating on Apple stock from "outperform" to "perform," based largely on the fact that Jobs will not present the keynote speech at Macworld Expo next month. Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner wrote a note to clients, saying "we don't know why Steve Jobs has pulled out of his annual address at Macworld [...] Whatever the reason, the unexpected announcement has underscored the greatest risk to Apple's long-term success -- its dependence on Jobs' health and its apparent lack of a succession plan." AAPL has remained off its 52-week low of $79.14, which it recorded on November 21.
Analyst Roundup: Morgan Stanley pooh-poohs, iPhone sales looking bright
Morgan Stanley analysts yesterday cut AAPL's price target to $95, mostly citing the weak economy. They said that despite price cuts, extreme interest in the iPhone, Mac users' high satisfaction, and marketshare momentum for Mac sales, the quarter will be slow for Apple. Blog Notable Calls said it wouldn't have been surprised if AAPL slipped by five points yesterday, but instead the stock gained 34 cents a share before the closing bell. On a brighter note, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu sees promise in iPhone gift cards, according to Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog. As with any gift card, Apple collects revenue from the customer up front. However, Apple can't report the revenue until the phone is activated, which will likely be during the first quarter of next year. Wu anticipates Apple will sell 6 million iPhone handsets during the company's fiscal Q1 2009, which includes October, November and December 2008. Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty thinks Apple will sell only 4 million that same quarter. In the same Apple 2.0 story, Philip Elmer-DeWitt notes that Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster looked at how many units Walmart might sell, after pricing details leaked on Monday. He conjectures that each Walmart store could sell 1,284 iPhones in 2009, accounting for nearly 10 percent of Apple's worldwide iPhone sales. AAPL was up by $2.50 or so in midday trading.
Analyst Roundup: Black Friday pretty good for Apple
Apple met or beat analyst expectations for sales over the weekend, selling 13 Macs and 3.4 iPhones every hour, according to one Piper Jaffray estimate. Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said that Apple's Black Friday promotions helped drive retail store traffic, according to reports from distributors. Wu also noted that the iPod touch is sold out at Amazon.com, which leads him to believe that Apple could sell $10 billion worth of products this quarter. Thomas Weisel Partners' Doug Reid got the impression that Apple sales were up from last year. He was less optimistic about Dell's retail performance at Best Buy locations, noting that salespeople there were not strongly recommending Dell models at 35 stores they checked. Weisel analysts expect Apple to sell 2.4 million Macs during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank analysts also conducted their own checks over the weekend, and found demand to be "solid," considering the current global economic woes. They expect Apple to sell 5 million iPhones this quarter, and reiterated their "buy" rating and price target of $150 per share. AAPL was down slightly in morning trading.
AAPL hits 52-week low, cries itself to sleep
Apple shares today dropped to an intra-day 52-week low of a penny over $75, and rebounded to close at $80.49 per share. That was down 5.8 points from yesterday's close. This marks the lowest prices for Apple stock since the introduction of the iPhone in early 2007. Many stocks lost ground today in a broad market selloff that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 445 points. Marketwatch.com's Rex Crum says that AAPL has lost "the iPhone premium": That is, whatever gains the company made since the introduction of the popular handset. Apple shares hit a peak of almost $203 per share late last year, but those days are long gone. If there's a silver lining to this gray cloud, it's that now might be a good time to buy. Macworld Expo is coming in January. In years past, the stock price has risen in anticipation of product announcements at the expo, leading to a selling frenzy the day of the keynote. Of course, past performance does not necessarily indicate future results. In this market, who knows?
AAPL up nearly 14% among broad market gains
Shares of Apple stock closed higher today, among a widespread buying spree that pushed the Dow Industrials up a record-breaking 936 points. AAPL closed at $110.26 per share, an increase of $13.46. Nearly 55 million shares changed hands. Microsoft, Dell, Google, HP, Sun, and AT&T also posted double-digit percentage gains for the day. Analyst firm Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple stock to "outperform" this morning, saying the company's short-term prognosis looks good, despite the dip in the market. Bernstein did, however, cut its price target by $50 to $135. AAPL was up slightly in after-hours trading.
AAPL hits 52-week low again, makes up for it
In a rollercoaster day on Wall Street, Apple shares closed up a scant $1.07 today, landing at $98.14, after a broad market sell-off this morning related to anxiety surrounding global financial markets. AAPL once again hit a 52-week low of $87.54 per share around 10:45 Eastern this morning. However, shares regained momentum in a closing-bell rally, finishing up nearly half a percent. Apple shares bucked the trend of many tech stocks today: Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, and AT&T all were less fortunate, losing between two and five percent of their value. Shares were modestly higher in early after-hours trading.
AAPL touches 52-week low, closes under $100
Apple shares today reached their lowest price point since April 2007, closing at 97.07, down 3.03 points. AAPL hit its 52-week low today, $94.65 per share, around 3:45 PM Eastern. Early in the day, the stock was jarred with false rumors from CNN's iReport service about Steve Jobs suffering a heart attack. TUAW's own Michael Rose was among the first to contact Apple's PR VP, Katie Cotton, who said the rumors were untrue. After the scare, prices rebounded, but never reached their highs for the day just before the rumor bubbled to the surface. Volume was at its heaviest before 10 a.m. Eastern, with about 16 million shares changing hands. In sum total, 82 million shares were traded over the course of the day. Apple shares were slightly ahead in early after-hours trading.
Nintendo shares on the rise again
You can barely move in the blogosphere without bumping into another "Nintendo is rich" story, and we're not about to help matters -- sorry. Anyway, the skinny is that Nintendo shares have soared after the company upped its full-year profit forecast by 26%. It now anticipates that it will sell 26.5 million Wiis (surely taking it past the N64's lifetime sales of approximately 33 million by year end) and 30.5 million DSes during 2008. Ninty also reckons that in the year ending March 31, net income will climb 59 percent to $3.8 billion, a.k.a. a lot of frickin' wonga. This news does represent a mini-turnaround of sorts in Nintendo's financial fortunes -- before today, the company's stock had fallen 17% since July 30th, but the latest renewed forecast has seen shares boosted by 8.4%. Now if only we'd actually bought some in the late-'90s. Bah. Oh well, clink those champagne glasses, everybody![Via NeoGAF]
Nintendo shares back on the climb
"The only is way up, baaay-beee!"Oh, Yazz. Not only did your wise words get us through tough times during our early teenage years, but they're also oddly relevant when it comes to the current value of Nintendo stock. If you've been keeping up, Nintendo shares haven't looked that hot recently, but now it appears things are improving for the Kyoto firm.The Daily Telegraph reports that Nintendo stock has hit a five-month high, and that this rise is mainly thanks to U.S. consumers spending their hard-earned on lots of lovely Nintendo produce. If you're one such person, go you![Via GamesIndustry.biz]
Riccitiello buys $1 million in EA stock
Showing the man has a little bit of confidence in his company, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has bought 20,000 shares of stock at $48.37 apiece, totaling approximately $967,400. According to Barron's Online (subscription required), this is the second purchase he's made since becoming chief in March 2007. He now owns 47,294 shares and about 75,000 exercisable options.Said a spokesperson, "John believes that senior executives should be invested in the company." The stock was as high as 54.57 on May 13, the day they reported a $454 million loss in Fiscal 2008. Of course, if he's still confident in the inevitability of the Take-Two takeover, those shares will probably rise a good bit. Speaking of which, the third extension for the Take-Two offer now puts the deadline at June 16.
Grand Theft Auto IV jacks up Take-Two shares
Hitting you with all the force of a frilly pillow being swung by a little girl on Valium news now, with the shocking revelation that Take-Two shares are rising amidst glowing and gushing reviews of new best game ever, Grand Theft Auto IV. The game's critical reception will provide "some leverage" for the publisher, which is still being targeted for acquisition by rival EA. "We would not be surprised if the deal ultimately gets done a couple of bucks higher," Arvind Bhatia, director of research at Sterne Agee, told Reuters. Janco Partners analyst, Mike Hickey, suggested that EA shouldn't afraid to boost its standing $26-per-share offer. "EA should just pay up and just get this deal done and quit being so cheap about it," he said. "You've made a $2 billion bid ... and you're worried about three or four dollars per share."
THQ CEO Brian Farrell exercises stock options, sells shares
We don't claim to be stock market experts (we don't know how anyone can keep up with all those bulls and bears and acronyms) but we're pretty sure that when a company's head honcho exercises options for over 73 thousand shares in his own company, then promptly sells off close to 53 thousand of those shares (netting a cool $10 million profit in the process), that's usually kind of a bad moon rising for said organization. When the honcho in question is Brian Farrell, CEO of the economically tumultuous game designer and publisher THQ, our rarely used financial spider-sense can't help but tingle. Sure, our conjecture could be entirely off base -- Farrell might just want to fill his swimming pool with singles -- but considering the company's recent chain of headline-making damage control maneuvers, we can't help but wonder if THQ is more SOL than anyone could have guessed.
GameStop shares slip 10%
GameStop announced that it doesn't expect an insanely strong fourth quarter due to competition, which resulted in a 10% drop in its stock price. Don't get any sneaky ideas all you GameStop haters -- just because the group won't be making as much money as expected, doesn't mean it still won't be making tons of it during the holiday season. GameStop continues its expansion and still sees great profits every quarter. In Q3, net income reached $52 million from Halo 3 and Guitar Hero II, up from the $13.6 million a year prior. The video game pawn shop will continue to make money, have no fear of that.
Giant Interactive breaks the fourth wall by issuing virtual stocks
In a strange bit of news from the far east, we've just learned that Giant Interactive, the Chinese game developer/publisher behind Zhengtu Online, will be doling out virtual shares of their stocks that will be redeemable for gold in-game, with the in-game value varying depending on the market value of their real-world stock at any given time. Giant Interactive officially goes public on the NYSE this Wednesday.We're still a bit confused by what they mean by issuing stock. Will shares be available for purchase with in-game gold or is it being handed out for free as some sort of PR stunt? If they're using in-game gold (or even real cash), is this an attempt to gain market capitalization? We know China's laws are bit a different than what we're used to, but is this sort of thing even legal? Does it even matter? It is a mystery!Either way, we'll find out soon enough. They'll be issuing the virtual in-game stocks from November 1 through the end of the year. Happy trading![Via Warcry]
Nintendo shares jump to record high
Wall Street reacted favorably towards the House that Mario Built on Wednesday as Nintendo shares rose to a record high before closing up 2.7 percent at ¥64,800 ($555). The surge in stock price echoed Goldman Sachs' decision to cover Nintendo's stocks; the investment bank offered up a "buy" rating with a target share price of ¥71,000 ($609). In addition, and as if to brag, Nintendo raised its earnings expectations for the second time this business year to ¥370 billion, which amazingly is still well below analyst predictions of ¥415 billion. Nintendo can thank the continuing success of its Wii and Nintendo DS platforms as the drivers behind its most recent success story, while Goldman Sachs lays equal praise at the company's 'talent in creating new markets,' noting that this could bring Nintendo's stock into alignment with that of Apple. Seems reasonable enough to us. Nintendo's product's already look the part, why not go all in?
