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Apple's Stock on the Rise

Macrumors said:
Apple's stock saw a 52-week high yesterday and continues to trade with heavy volume.

Yahoo Finance attributes the increased volume to a "revival of Sony buyout rumor". CBS Marketwatch, however, attributes the increased trading to this USA Today article which reports on the iPod Mini's striking success and near sellout country-wide.
Click to expand...
Yay for Apple (AAPL) on reaching a 52-week high for their stock price. I hope it continues to rise (I don't own shares of Apple, or ANY shares for that matter). I also look forward to other product introductions Apple promised for this year that will further boost Apple's stock.
 
Somehow I don't think Apple wins a cash on hand comparison....

As noted above, the stock price is just the market's opinion of what a share of Apple is worth. That said, the rise in stock price most likely also reflects the solid financial results Apple has posted, and the splash the iPod and Mini have given the company--more people are aware of, and buying product, than have in the past. Coupled with Apple moving to IBM, investors have good reason to believe Apple will continue to do well in the future as an investment.

There is an interesting tidbit of data in Apple's 10Q for the period ending 12-27-03 dealing with their inventory--they list only $89 million in inventory, with $85 million of that in finished goods and only $1 million in works in progress. The works in progress figure is interesting because it could suggest a ramp down of production, hinting at new products. The folks who have suggested Apple may be holding off announcing new machines can also point to the $85 million in finished goods--a substantial increase over the prior quarter.

More speculatively, the markets may be giving Apple a vote of confidence in Apple's ability to define and seize new markets--in essence, the Street may be saying "We believe the iPod and Mini are the beginning and not a one shot success."

I'd be very surprised if Sony tried to buy Apple, although I don't know what, if any, defensive provisions Apple's board has in place. Objectively, Apple does look like a terrific takeover target for a company that wants cachet...

Best,

Bob
 
sethypoo said:
Ook "carleton", keep your clothes on. 🙄

It makes perfect sense, from a simple point of view. I know stock splits and ratios change the prices around a lot, but I was looking at this from the standpoint of:
Microsoft=huge, dominating software company
Apple=small, struggling company with no where near the revenue of MSFT.

I am just happy to see Apple be "ahead" in a way.

Don't rain on my parade, dude! 🙄 😛 😉
Click to expand...

Until Apples stock price passes $771 per share as a company it will remain way behind Microsoft. Comparing share prices means nothing.
 
TEG said:
Actually, It states that Apple is a Bank with computer and Music Divisions. This is based onthem not havin any debt, and regurlarly making money. If anything, Apple Will buy parts of Sony, or the entire company, especially considering Sony's eroding market share in Computers, TVs, Video Cameras, and Digital Cameras. They are only making money on CD, and Cassete Walkmen. Don't even get me started on MiniDisks.

Apple to Buy Sony... News at 11.

TEG
Click to expand...

Uh, no. There is no chance that Apple has the assets to aquire SONY. That's like saying Tandy is going to buy Disney. SONY is MUCH more than an electronic company. They are one of the media giants along with Disney, Newscorp., etc. As far as acquring parts of SONY, what would they buy?
 
Apple is too expensive

Apple's p/e ratio is 72 (compared to Microsoft's 32).
Stock price seems to be very expensive (relative to the company's revenue).
I do not feel well about this.
Of course, there are a lot of people, who still do not care p/e...

Graefe
 
sorry for getting a little heated back there sethypoo.

It's like the Mhz myth. (p4 2Gz is not the same as g5 2ghz)

You have to account for splits etc. since the company first went public. Post 28 said it well: "Until Apples stock price passes $771 per share as a company it will remain way behind Microsoft. Comparing share prices means nothing."
 
While things are going well for Apple, these rises are a bit sudden. What, 5% or so yesterday, currently 7% again today? None of the recent headlines are *that* earth-shaking.

I'm a conspiracy theorist by hobby, so I can't help but wonder if someone's gobbling up Apple stock at the moment. Perhaps Apple execs who know of a product in the pipeline?

I know it sounds fanciful, but many in Apple's management made millions when they bought stock at $15 and sold just before the split (c. $140?).
 
jweste2906 said:
Until Apples stock price passes $771 per share as a company it will remain way behind Microsoft. Comparing share prices means nothing.
Click to expand...

So it means nothing that Apple is on the way towards doing just that, getting $771 per share?

Logic.....
 
whooleytoo said:
I'm a conspiracy theorist by hobby, so I can't help but wonder if someone's gobbling up Apple stock at the moment. Perhaps Apple execs who know of a product in the pipeline?
Click to expand...

It better not be Apple execs who know of a product--the US has rather strict laws against insider trading....and that is exactly what that would be.

Best,

Bob
 
Sony buyout rumor

It mentions "Sony buyout rumor" as in the rumor is that Sony will buy Apple, not the other way around. The stock that is being bought is the one that climbs since it suddenly becomes "in demand".

Sony is a 38 billion dollar company, Apple is a 10 billion dollar company. Does it sound like Apple could buy Sony?
 
sethypoo said:
So it means nothing that Apple is on the way towards doing just that, getting $771 per share?

Logic.....
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's great. But you're glee that Apple had nudged past MS was based on numbers - which represent much larger numbers - which are MUCH further apart.
 
onemoof said:
It mentions "Sony buyout rumor" as in the rumor is that Sony will buy Apple, not the other way around. The stock that is being bought is the one that climbs since it suddenly becomes "in demand".

Sony is a 38 billion dollar company, Apple is a 10 billion dollar company. Does it sound like Apple could buy Sony?
Click to expand...

You're exactly right about the target stock typically running up.....

But I would point out that there are ways Apple could acquire
Sony...

Best,

Bob
 
onemoof said:
Stock purchases by executives are also visible in public record of a company so anyone can watch their moves.
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That's true, assuming the executives are following the law......

In any event, there is a prohibition on corporate executives using their knowledge of their company to profit. This is why executives either have blind trusts or schedule their purchases and sales of their own companies securities.

Best,

Bob
 
Don't forget Apple's recently quarterly growth

Don't forget Apple reported last quarter an increase in profits of 550%. This is only the tip of the iceburg.
 
Macrumors said:
Apple's stock saw a 52-week high yesterday and continues to trade with heavy volume.

Yahoo Finance attributes the increased volume to a "revival of Sony buyout rumor". CBS Marketwatch, however, attributes the increased trading to this USA Today article which reports on the iPod Mini's striking success and near sellout country-wide.
Click to expand...

Boy, am I glad I held my shares. Bought in the 16's. 🙂 Needless to say the past couple days have been good to me.
 
I can't say that I buy into the idea of Sony buying Apple or Apple buying some pieces of Sony, BUT there have been rumors of new alliances being announced. Maybe the rumors are actually indicators of Sony and Apple teaming up on something. I could see how the two could work together on a project - and if Apple is able to put together partnerships with IBM, Sony, Pepsi, and McDonald's all in one year, that's going to greatly increase product exposure. I'm not sure what the two would get together on, but I could see it happening.

and the sales of the iPod mini certainly help. I want to sell my 3rd gen iPod 10GB to buy one. They're just so amazing to behold and to use - and the aluminum encasing is definitely an improvement over the strong plastic case on mine.
 
whooleytoo said:
While things are going well for Apple, these rises are a bit sudden. What, 5% or so yesterday, currently 7% again today? None of the recent headlines are *that* earth-shaking.

I'm a conspiracy theorist by hobby, so I can't help but wonder if someone's gobbling up Apple stock at the moment. Perhaps Apple execs who know of a product in the pipeline?

I know it sounds fanciful, but many in Apple's management made millions when they bought stock at $15 and sold just before the split (c. $140?).
Click to expand...

I think it's simple. Coverage on the iPod an it's ramifications for future computer market share and current profitability. One analyst from Merriyl is quoted as saying that Apple could sell 1 billion dollars worth of iPods this year. He also believe's it could translate into market share on computers.

The other things to consider are the partnership deals. Look at this HP deal with the iPod. It's, perhaps, the biggest news Apple has had from a financial standpoint, in a LONG LONG time. It means Apple will attack the mind share and marketshare issue on many fronts, and that they aren't cutting off their nose dispite their face like they used to.

My bet is the iPod mini, iPod sales, iTMS, and business goals. Good analyst coverage has helped greatly.
 
Sony Buyout

sethypoo said:
I believe that's the idea, although it doesn't make much sense. 😕
Click to expand...

I think the idea is that Sony will buy Apple out not the other way around. Sony is a much larger company. As much as I like Apple, there is no way Apple would be able to buy Sony.

As for the reason in price going up, it would take a lot more than brisk sales of iPod minis for it to go up as much as it did. It was most likely because of rumors of a Sony buyout.
 
OnceUGoMac said:
Uh, no. There is no chance that Apple has the assets to aquire SONY. That's like saying Tandy is going to buy Disney. SONY is MUCH more than an electronic company. They are one of the media giants along with Disney, Newscorp., etc. As far as acquring parts of SONY, what would they buy?
Click to expand...
Why, Apple would of course buy the Walkman division.

Or Memory Stick ;-)

In all seriousness, Sony is one of those companies that I would really like to like. But when I think about it, I can't think of anything they make that has ever been much use to me.

I had one experience with trying to troubleshoot somebody's Vaio about three years ago, and was a bit perplexed by the internal design of the computer (a desktop). It was oddly built. The newer ones do look pretty cool though.

It's all an interesting thought, but I don't take the Apple/Sony talk very seriously.
 
Naimfan said:
You're exactly right about the target stock typically running up.....

But I would point out that there are ways Apple could acquire
Sony...

Best,

Bob
Click to expand...

The is no possible way Apple could acquire Sony not unless they want to sink both Sony and Apple in infinite debt.
 
Naimfan said:
It better not be Apple execs who know of a product--the US has rather strict laws against insider trading....and that is exactly what that would be.
Click to expand...

I expected so too.

I imagine it'd be quite difficult to discern though. They can claim (as every investor would) that they invested because they believe Apple will do well over the next year or 2 years etc. How could you easily tell it's more than that, that they were aware of impending products?

(I guess I might be a little oversensitive about this, given one of the names on the list of Apple management who made a mint on shares was the same guy who promised us all our jobs at Apple were safe - a fortnight before our department was axed.. But no, I don't bear a grudge! 😉 )
 
I really don't think that Apple is a good takeover target. First off, they have about $4 billion in cash reserves to fight a takeover, and that's not chump change even to a company like Sony.

More importantly, though, Apple at this point essentially is Steve Jobs -- the value of the company is intimately tied to his presence. If Steve didn't want to work for some other company, the threat of him leaving would immediately make a takeover far less attractive (yes, it would lower the cost of such a takeover, but it would also lower its value). And I can't imagine Steve working for anyone but Steve (or, for that matter, any corporation in its right mind wanting Steve as a subordinate).
 
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