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Facebook's turmoil has reportedly hit employee morale hard
Facebook has been mired in bad news lately, including numerous data privacy scandals, criticism over its role in Myanmar violence and a tumbling stock price. As such, employee morale has fallen, with just 52 percent of employees saying they're optimistic about Facebook going forward, according to the Wall Street Journal. That's down from 84 percent a year ago, meaning a third of Facebook's employees think the company's future is less than rosy than they did in late 2017.
How iPhone rumors affect Apple's share price
It's an exciting time to be an Apple fan. Apple is rumored to be announcing a new iPhone in the coming weeks and the company's stock recently reached another all-time high. Those with an eye on Apple's financials might want to watch the company's stock closely in the next few weeks. As pointed out by Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Apple 2.0, Apple's stock doesn't always follow the typical "buy the rumor, sell the news" cycle, in which a company's stock price rises on rumors and then falls when the product goes on sale. DeWitt points to a March report by Mashable's Matt Silverman that shows how each iPhone announcement influenced Apple's stock. Not surprisingly, the biggest effect on Apple's stock was the original iPhone, which was a game-changer in the mobile phone market. Though the new iPhone may not be as revolutionary as the first iPhone, it's expected to be a big jump from the iPhone 4S. Will this improvement be enough to give Apple's stock another boost in the arm? We will have to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks.
AAPL closes at all-time high, dividend paid (Updated)
Shares in Apple closed at an all-time high today. At the closing bell at 4 p.m. ET, AAPL was trading at $636.34. That's not the all-time high price; that came Tuesday when the stock peaked temporarily at $644.00, but the share price dropped to about $632 a share that day by the close of trading. What's keeping Wall Street investors bullish on Apple? They're all looking forward to an announcement of new products, possibly a new iPhone and a smaller iPad, within the next month. Update: We almost forgot to mention that today was the day that Apple shareholders received their $2.65 per share dividend. That dividend was announced on July 24, 2012, and marks the first dividend ever paid to shareholders of Apple. According to reader Joe Bonniwell, Google Finance notes that Apple paid dividends to shareholders between 1987 and 1995. Thanks for the correction, Joe.
Suppliers' stocks climb on Apple's success
As the old saying goes, "a rising tide lifts all boats," and that's never been more apt than in the case of Apple suppliers. As the company's fortunes have risen, so have those of the many suppliers who make the bits and pieces that go into every iPhone, iPad and other Apple products. CNNMoney notes that Apple's shares rose almost 10 percent this morning after yesterday's earnings call. This transferred over to some semiconductor manufacturers almost immediately -- Cirrus Logic was up about 9 percent, Skyworks Solutions was up more than 6 percent, and Triquint had a bump of about 5.5 percent. Even two larger semiconductor companies that supply Apple -- ARM (which gained 3.6 percent) and Qualcomm (up 2 percent) -- saw a solid jump in stock price today. Omnivision, a company that builds iPhone camera sensors, was up 6.2 percent on the solid Apple news. A company didn't need to be a supplier to reap the benefits of Apple's incredible news. Zagg, which makes iPhone and iPad accessories, also jumped up about 5 percent this morning.
Apple poised to become world's first trillion dollar company by 2014
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster raised his estimates for Apple share prices this morning, with a new 12-month price target of US$910 per share. Not long after that point, Munster expects the price of AAPL to go beyond the thousand dollar mark, which would translate to a market capitalization of over one trillion dollars. That's $1,000,000,000,000, folks. No other company has ever reached a market cap in that range. Munster bases his bullish forecast on continued strong sales of the iPhone. He believes, based on current data, that 70 percent of all owners of two-year-old iPhones will upgrade to a newer model of the iPhone, accounting for 33 percent of all sales in a given quarter through 2015. Munster's not the only Wall Street analyst looking at those lofty figures. Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets said yesterday that he believes Apple shares will reach $1,001 a share, based largely on his thought that Apple will enter the television market sometime in the next year. That market makes up a $100 billion opportunity for the company.
AAPL hits $500
Shares in Apple have reached a new all-time high today, pausing briefly at the stratospheric height of $503.83 this morning before dropping slightly below that level. It wasn't all that long ago -- three months -- that Apple shares were quavering around $360. There's more to come. Seeking Alpha's Robert Paul Leitao has now set a 2012 price target of $790 per share for AAPL. Leitao does note that if Apple takes the step of beginning to pay quarterly dividends, that could affect the share price in a very positive way: "Extraordinary events such as a resumption of a regular quarterly dividend or a share split are also not factored into this share price forecast and may accelerate the pace at which the shares approach this $790 price target." [Stock charts via NASDAQ.com]
Apple stock gains nearly $100 since Steve's passing
Apple 2.0 editor Philip Elmer-DeWitt is back today with another fascinating Apple statistic: "[Apple] has gained nearly one Facebook in value since Steve Jobs died." Elmer-DeWitt remarks that the share price of AAPL on October 4, 2011, the day before Jobs passed away, was US$372.50 and that the market capitalization of the company was about $347 billion. Now, just four short months later, the stock price is (as of this morning) $472.66, over $100 greater than before Jobs died. That puts the market capitalization of Apple, Inc. at about $440 billion -- over $90 billion of growth in just four months. Those numbers are staggering. $90 billion is about nine-tenths of the value that Facebook has been given in advance of its upcoming IPO. Elmer-DeWitt notes that it's hard to argue that Apple is overvalued. He quotes Erik Savitz of Forbes noting that even after backing out Apple's $100 billion cash horde, valuation of AAPL is just 2.6 times revenues and 10 times earnings. The Apple 2.0 post ends on a rather dour note, with Elmer-DeWitt noting that "two prominent Apple bulls" agree that Apple's shares are ready for a sell-off.
Nokia shareholders and unions fight back against Microkia
Nokia shareholders are not very happy right now with NOK taking a 25 percent hit since the announcement of the Microsoft marriage. Stephen Elop, Nokia's first foreign-born CEO, is taking heat on multiple fronts even as he prostrates himself to the media in hopes of getting his message out. Already, we've heard numerous conspiracies calling Elop a "trojan horse," sent by Steve Ballmer to sabotage Nokia from within. Conspiraloons are quick to point to records showing Elop holding a significant number of Microsoft shares -- a situation that Elop says is temporary (and outdated) having already sold a majority of his Microsoft position with plans to sell off the rest in favor of Nokia stock just as soon as he's free to do so under regulatory moratoriums meant to prevent insider trading. Nevertheless, Nokia will be facing at least two very real showdowns on its near-term horizon. First, will be a battle with the Finnish trade union Pro which is demanding €100,000 (in addition to severance payments) for every Nokia employee that loses their job under Elop's new strategy -- money the unions says will be used for reeducation. The union estimates that Nokia could cut as many as 25% (5,000 people) of Nokia's 20,000 workers located in Finland. The second major hurdle facing Elop, and the board of directors that appointed him, will come at Nokia's Annual General Meeting for shareholders. Already, a cabal of nine frustrated shareholders have been grabbing attention with its "Nokia Plan B" proposal to oust Stephen Elop and return Nokia to a MeeGo focus giving Symbian a five-year minimum reprieve. The group has since disbanded after its plan was rejected by institutional investors. Nevertheless, we don't expect Symbian / MeeGo fans and developers to give up without a fight, and we expect Helsinki Fair Centre's Amfi Hall to be center-ring when the event kicks off on May 3rd in Helsinki.
Boom! AAPL share price over $300 for the first time today
If the wizards of Cupertino take note of such milestones, there are probably bottles of champagne being uncorked this morning. Apple's stock price has been hovering above $300 per share since the market opened, marking yet another all-time high for the consumer electronics company. While nobody knows for sure if AAPL will close above $300 per share this afternoon, it's nice to see another record being toppled. Apple will report Q4 financial results on Monday, October 18th, and TUAW will be liveblogging the earnings call. Be sure to join us on Monday for what should prove to be another indication of stellar performance for the company. Screenshot from DailyFinance
Let's talk AAPL and the future
It's been a roller coaster ride over the past two years for Apple (AAPL) stock. In December 2007 it hit a then-peak of $199.83 a share. Just two months later AAPL sunk to $125. Three months after that it had recovered to the $180s, but by November 2008, AAPL had plummeted to $82 a share. Since then, the stock has recovered and hit an all-time closing high of $207 on November 17, 2009. As of today it's sitting pretty in the $190s -- though some think the drop from the $200s to $190s is suspicious. I argue with people all the time why Apple didn't deserve its dips and plummets over the last two years: The company is sitting flush with $23.5 billion $35 billion in the bank, in cash (about the same as the total market value of another major US computer maker, named for its CEO and founder, who 12 years ago famously suggested shutting down Apple and giving the money back to shareholders). It has zero debt. It is one of the most respected companies on the planet and has the world's greatest CEO. But more importantly than the cash and its status, I believe AAPL is a great buy because it has such small market share in all the categories it operates in save one...
