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 ...
Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 03:00 pm
Samsung passes Apple as top global semiconductor buyer, Gartner says
By Kevin Bostic
Samsung last year overtook Apple as the world’s top purchaser of semiconductors, according to new figures out Wednesday from industry analyst Gartner.
The two tech giants together account for more than 15 percent of all semiconductors bought last year, more than the next five buyers combined. Gartner’s figures are based on analysis of the design total available market (TAM) the total silicon content in all products designed by a certain manufacturer and show Apple and Samsung together consuming $45.3 billion in semiconductors in 2012, up $7.9 billion from 2011.
Samsung’s semiconductor consumption is said to have grown 28.9 percent year-over-year, giving the South Korean firm an eight percent overall share of semiconductor buys and moving it past Apple for the year. Apple, meanwhile, saw its semiconductor purchases grow 13.6 percent year-over-year. The Cupertino company took 7.2 percent of all semiconductor purchases.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/01/23/samsung-passes-apple-as-top-global-semiconductor-buyer-gartner-says
I’m not an Apple fanboy by any stretch, but I see this as an opportunity to BUY Apple stock.
They actually did BETTER than their internal estimates. This panic selling is because the MARKET estimates were missed. Apple’s own internal estimates were met and exceeded.
A great company. However, they released the IPhone 4S and then practically released the IPhone 5 too close after. People have 2 year contracts and normally won’t replace their phones until then so this lower sales thing does not surprise me. I think they should hold off on selling a new IPhone 6 for at least 2 years or even a bit longer. Just a thought as if it matters...lol.
This is an indicator that the stock was overvalued. Sell.
In other words, can Apple still be Apple without Steve Jobs?
>People have 2 year contracts and normally wont replace their phones until then so this lower sales thing does not surprise me. I think they should hold off on selling a new IPhone 6 for at least 2 years or even a bit longer.<
Bingo.
Commodity gadgets.
Really?
At $470/share the P/E ratio is 8.75 or earning 11.4%.
Apple had a record quarter, and the analysts are punishing the stock because they were even more optimistic than those record numbers.
I know the stock market is run on perception, but some days make me just shake my head at it...
Walking past a store last week they were advertizing a pay as you go phone that costs only $50/per month for unlimited talk text data. Now you have pay as you go boost mobile which costs $40/month for data and talk. These plans hurt iPhone sales with 2 year contracts..are partly why Apple is cratering. All of a sudden realize the Apple business model is a joke same as facebook dived after people figured out their business model was crap
Yep. And it’s folks like you that cost people quite a bit of money - buying in close to the top.
The technology is moving too fast. I don’t think anybody, including Apple can produce a phone that will remain competitive for two years. It was a pretty good balance releasing a phone once a year, by the time their hardware was getting stale, there was excitement about the next big release.
A yearly release seems to be working pretty well for Samsung but on the otherhand, they can stagger releases between their Note and Galaxy so there is always something new to buy or talk about.
I still don’t have a smart phone.
Friend of mine always trying to talk me into getting one.
I ask him if he’d ever own anything other than an iphone and he gets a look of disgust on his face. Funny.
When Walt Disney died, the company slipped into moribund mediocrity in film, TV, and theme parks.
It took fifteen years and nearly having the company broken up and sold off before nephew Roy Disney found some capable executives to revive it.
Apple is in the same boat: a one-man shop, and now that guy is gone.
Nobody knows whether they’ll be able to find a replacement for Steve Jobs — but the future of the company depends on it.
Only in this upside-down crazy nation led by socialists is Apple’s Q1 results considered bad:
How many major corporations can see their Q1 revenue increase by $8 billion over the previous Q1 results, and people spin it to be a bad quarter?
Revenue Q1 2012 = $46.3 Billion
Revenue Q1 2013 = $54.5 Billion
By my math (no guarantees) - that is about a 17% revenue increase. How many US Corporations would LOVE to see that kind of revenue growth?
Q1 of 2012 - Apple sold 37 million iPhones. Q1 of 2013, Apple sold over 47.7 million iPhones.
And all of this with a 13 week quarter instead of last year’s 14 week quarter.
What other corporations are pounded like this over a record revenue quarter? And all this with some supply issues to boot?
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.
WHO's forecast? Apple didn't miss their own forecast. They missed the "pull it out of our tails, Steve Jobs farts magic pixie dust" analysts who base their predictions on tea leaves and wishful thinking.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.