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macrumors bot
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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple is facing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of securities fraud for making false statements and failing to disclose adverse information regarding its business prospects. These actions allegedly led to an artificially inflated stock price.

Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Apple was not initially forthcoming about a drop in demand for the iPhone due to poor sales in China and the 2018 battery replacement program, both of which contributed to lower than expected iPhone sales in the first fiscal quarter of 2019.

iphonexr-800x500.jpg

Apple is also accused of hiding the fact that production orders from suppliers had been slashed and prices had been cut, Apple's decision not to provide unit sales for iPhones and other hardware is also cited as a method Apple used to cause stock prices to rise to $209 per share.

When Apple did reveal the dip in iPhone sales and announced that it would not make its quarterly revenue forecast, Apple's stock fell $15 per share from $157.92 on January 2 to $142.19 per share on January 3. According to the lawsuit, Apple knew its iPhone sales weren't on track months before the information was shared.

The lawsuit, filed by the City of Roseville employees' retirement fund, is aiming to recover damages on behalf of people who purchased Apple stock between November 2, 2018 and January 2, 2019. Tim Cook and Luca Maestri are both named as defendants.

Update: A second law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, which is essentially identical to the first lawsuit. It also accuses Apple of securities fraud for concealing the iPhone's decline in sales.

Article Link: Apple Hit With Securities Fraud Lawsuit for Hiding iPhone Sales Drop
 
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Baymowe335

Suspended
Oct 6, 2017
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Looks like the market is devastated with AAPL up 2% today and marching higher again.

People get mad when then sell stock too low.

They didn’t “hide” anything. They told investors they would no longer report unit sales in 2019, which is their choice. You could sell if you thought that ruined the company (lol).

Tons of public companies don’t report metrics investors might like to know. Ever look at Google’s financials? Impossible to understand. No Pixel sales. Microsoft doesn’t report unit sales for their hardware and Samsung doesn’t even report Galaxy unit sales.
 

sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,234
17,483
The lawsuit, filed by the City of Roseville employees' retirement fund, is aiming to recover damages on behalf of people who purchased Apple stock between November 2, 2018 and January 2, 2019

People who purchased Apple stock on or after Nov. 12, 2018 and still own it are in the money, so there's no damages. :D
[doublepost=1555523792][/doublepost]
The fish rots from its head: Tim Crook

Really don't like what the guys been doing over the years, stalling consumer technology progress.

Tim Cook single-handedly "stalling consumer technology progress."

LMAO
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
[doublepost=1555524069][/doublepost]
Tim Cook single-handedly "stalling consumer technology progress."

LMAO

People always attribute Apple's successes 'single handedly' to Tim. But the reverse isn't allowed I guess, huh?

I don't understand the thin skin mentality over only the biggest corporation in the world. Never have never will.
 

gavroche

macrumors 65816
Oct 25, 2007
1,452
1,571
Left Coast
[doublepost=1555524069][/doublepost]

People always attribute Apple's successes 'single handedly' to Tim. But the reverse isn't allowed I guess, huh?

I don't understand the thin skin mentality over only the biggest corporation in the world. Never have never will.

Perhaps he just thought it funny and inaccurate that one CEO, of one company, could be "stalling consumer technology progress" in general.
 

Cosmosent

macrumors 68020
Apr 20, 2016
2,315
2,693
La Jolla, CA
AAPL's Upper Mgmt knew by the end of the first weekend of XR sales ! ... late Oct 2018.

Make NO mistake about that.

The Drop in Unit Sales has very little to do with China OR the Battery Replacement program ... that's just AAPL's spin on the problem ... Cook's goal is ALWAYS just to present some "plausible" explanation.

The real problem is that AAPL moved their iPhone product line so Upscale.

Common Sense will ALWAYS prevail when assessing AAPL !

AAPL's Upper Mgmt gets away with what it promotes simply because there are a sufficient number of Investors "who (simply) buy into the Hype" ! ... hook, line, & sinker (buy in) !

The drop in Unit Sales was obvious ... & one iOS app had it right ALL along ! ... many months BEFORE it became public.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
Perhaps he just thought it funny and inaccurate that one CEO, of one company, could stall consumer tech progress in general.

So you think its totally beyond belief that the head of the company makes key decisions in determining the road map of its core product lines? hot take

That makes me think of Office Space immediately

whaddayado.jpg
 
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techwhiz

macrumors 65816
Feb 22, 2010
1,297
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Northern Ca.
Some people sold their stock too low and now comes the crying.
Exactly.

I'm a share holder (still, did not sell) and I find these lawsuits BS.
A company is not going to tell every financial decision or issue in real time.

The information is shared in calls and quarterly statements and disclosure.
Get over it and move on.

Once again, I hold Apple stock.
 

agsystems

macrumors 65816
Aug 1, 2013
1,199
1,140
"the lawsuit claims that Apple was not initially forthcoming about a drop in demand for the iPhone due to poor sales in China and the 2018 battery replacement program"

I don't know the merits of the suit but Apple has one of the best just-in-time supply managers in the business and they would have definitely know they were not going to hit the numbers they have guided
 

brofkand

Suspended
Jun 11, 2006
1,256
3,077
Is this unique to Apple? Are other companies who make smartphones required to give those same sales details?

Companies are not required to break down revenue by product. Amazon has never released Kindle sales numbers, for example. And Apple has never reported AppleTV or Watch sales numbers, other than cumulative sales numbers every once in a while during keynotes.

What is somewhat unprecedented is for a company like Apple to release sales figures for a decade and abruptly stop releasing the data, during the same quarter where they miss forecasts.

The lawsuit has merit I think - Apple knew they would miss forecasts long before they announced it to investors, and investors have a mandate to have this information as soon as possible.
 
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