The Stock market surged today, in part, on expectations from investors that Apple Stock (AAPL) might just beat estimates. In the end, Apple’s revenue and earnings for the quarter met estimates although net income was down 18% from the same quarter last year. Earnings per share was down sharply from $12.30 a year ago to $10.09 this quarter. Analysts meanwhile had continually reduced their expectations for Apple Stock. Revenue though was up 11% to 43.6 billion from 39.2 billion in the same quarter last year. After hours Apple shares rose and then fell back. Apple raised the quarterly dividend from $2.65 to $3.05 a 15% increase and Apple will increase the share buyback from 10 billion to 60 billion. Both of these steps will help support Apple Stock but whether it can push the stock back up remains to be seen. Overall profit margins were still decent but mac sales are poor at just 3 million unit while the iPad and iPhone were the revenue generators. Meanwhile after hours, CEO Tim Cooke stumbled again when asked about future projects which tumbled the stock.
Apple Stock Is 20% Of The Tech Sector
Apple Stock makes up 20% of the tech sector. It should be interesting to see what develops tomorrow and how it impacts the tech sector. A lot of analysts feel that Apple Stock will move a lot lower tomorrow on the forward looking outlook which sees a decline in revenue as competitors continue to erode Apple’s market share. Analysts had estimated revenue of 38.4 billion this quarter versus Apple’s outlook for 33.5 to 35.5 billion. Many analysts commented that investors should consider shorting the market direction. Personally I think this could be a mistake as the market appears more range bound than ready to collapse.
Apple Stock Put Selling Strategy Article
This is a strategy article for FullyInformed Members. I have used a biweekly Put Selling strategy on Apple Stock since mid-January and the returns have been excellent but after today’s earnings it is worthwhile to analyze the stock and determine whether Put Selling is still practical and changes that should be considered to the Put Selling of weekly Apple Stock options.
Apple Management Is Concerned
The earnings after hours were partly cheered by investors who bought after hours pushing the stock up only to watch it pull back within half an hour. Throughout the past 3 months analysts keep adjusting their expectations of Apple Stock revenue and earnings lower. It only makes sense then that Apple Stock would meet those estimates. But overall while revenue was up, earnings were down considerably from last year at this same quarter. Meanwhile the boosting of the dividend and the move to change the stock buy back from 10 billion dollars to 60 billion dollars shows the concern management has for Apple Stock and the continuing decline. Companies may like to pretend that share valuation does not affect them, but ultimately it always does.
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