Posted on 01/24/2013 10:40:45 AM PST by dennisw
Last night, Apple reported fourth quarter earnings of $13.81 per share, which was well above the $13.44 that analysts were expecting, but the stock cratered in after-hours trading and is down more than 10% so far today. Typically, when a company blows away analyst estimates for its quarterly earnings you can expect to see a big jump in the stock, but in this case, there were other indicators that bothered traders.
As we noted in our earnings preview yesterday, no matter what results Apple published, we were going to see a big move in the stock, and that is exactly what came to pass in today's trading.
While Apple was able to outpace analyst estimates for its quarterly earnings, its revenues came in a little light. Analysts had forecast revenues of $54.73 billion, but actual revenue was $54.5 billion. It was not a huge miss, but it is the third quarter in a row that the company has failed to meet revenue expectations.
The biggest problem with Apple's earnings is that the fourth quarter was the first time in nine years that the company reported a decrease in year-over-year earnings. This is a clear sign that the company is starting to feel the competition.
Analysts have been questioning whether or not Apple can continue to grow on the back of new model releases as opposed to bringing new and innovative products to market. With today's report, we are starting to get our answer.
The iPhone is a huge component of Apple's overall business and iPhone shipments in the quarter were lower than expected. While Apple was able to sell 18 million more iPhones than it did during the same last year, the 47.8 million phones sold was short of the 48 million analysts had forecast.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketintelligencecenter.com ...
The old anti-Apple dennisw is at it again...
Funny - Apple’s sales of iPhones actually increased dramatically over the same quarter in 2012... more than 25% increase in sales volume. Yeah - must be “crap” -
I suspect you missed that some of those “pay as you go” plan dealers also are starting to carry iPhones.
I cannot help but laugh when someone calls a business model “crap” that keeps setting records, both for themselves, and in the industry. In the bigger picture - Apple’s overall sales were up, double-digits up. How many other companies in their category did so well?
Do you know how to buy Samsung stock? Looked into it recently and couldn’t find the ticker symbol, think it’s traded on the South Korean market.
Two weeks ago Algore decided to exercise some Apple options @$7/share. The APPL stock he received was worth $29 million....with the stock going then for ~$520/share. If he sold them that day then he is looking good compared to others who are left holding the APPL bag
Samsung is listed in Korea and London. No USA stock exchange listing. You could buy the London shares!
Here is the Samsung chart and info for its London UK bought shares. Samsung has been rising the last six months (up about 33%) as APPL has been stalling, falling then sinking
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/SMSN:LI/chart
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The only problem is actually buying this stock. It trades in Korea and London … but in the U.S. the only direct exposure is the pink sheets via Samsung Electronics (PINK:SSNLF) that trades for a staggering $1,250. Even more troubling: There are days the company doesn’t trade a single share — with average volume around 20 shares or so per session!
Thankfully, there are a few workarounds. But for starters, let’s discuss why anyone would want to buy Samsung in the first place.
Samsung earnings just hit a new record with roughly $6 billion in net profit for its most recent quarter ending Sept. 30 — up 91% from the previous year’s numbers and handily topping forecasts. Margins were robust on mobile devices like its Galaxy tablet and smartphone line, plus it has worked out the kinks in a troublesome TV and computer screen business. Samsung also is now the third-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, moving some 56.3 million handsets from July through September.
The company has a market cap of $178 billion, which would make it the No. 5 tech stock on Wall Street were it listed on a major U.S. exchange — behind Apple, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and IBM (NYSE:IBM), and in front of Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
It also has some powerful consumer appeal, with existing products building the company’s brand and newer products like its $249 Chromebook building nice buzz ahead of the holidays.
There’s a lot to like here … but again, how do you get into Samsung stock?
I would steer clear of the pink sheet-listed shares because that kind of illiquid investment is just crazy. What happens if you want to sell on a day when literally nobody is placing an order to buy? Even if you’re smart enough to avoid placing a market order, there still is going to be a mess on the pricing front. And God forbid you ever need to sell quickly and get stuck in this situation.
Me too. PE is a hair over 10.
I have no idea how people that buy at the top cost other people money, but I got in at $86. If I sell, I have to put the cash somewhere, and there are not that many solid companies out there with that type of P/E ratio.
I hold until they stop making that kind of money.
Samsung products are of superior quality, its the only stock I've been interested in owning in a few years but not under those terms. Maybe one day the Nasdaq will list it and I can buy it then.
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