Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Old Is New (Tech) Again

Apple stock tanks over 11% in after-hours trading
Shares of Apple Computer plummeted nearly $6 in after hours trading on Tuesday, losing over 11% of their value despite the company reporting the best quarterly results in its history.

For its fourth fiscal quarter __ ____, the Mac and iPod maker posted revenue of $3.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $430 million, or $.50 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $2.35 billion and a net profit of $106 million, or $.13 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

However, the results still fell short of the extremely high investor expectations that have been baked into the company's stock price, which has recently traded at all-time highs.

As of 5:00pm eastern time, Apple stock was trading at $45.85, down $5.74 or some 11.13%.

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The punchline: the above is from Tuesday, October 11, 2005

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."

Update: "The Scum asked about pizza in Vegas in a previous thread:
Any better local pizza similar to that in Vegas

OMG! You don't do Pizzeria Uno? To die for. On the west side across the freeway from the strip. There are even specials not on the menu. We get a "Sea Delico." Ask, they'll know.

26 comments:

Ogg the Caveman said...

Everybody's so busy trying to rescue their portfolios, I bet I can sneak in a murst!

Lou Minatti said...

Steve needs a new black mock turtleneck. Maybe if he shaves the stock will go back up?

Anonymous said...

Is Jobs an environmentalist, or does he just enjoy looking like a bum? I bet he doesn't allow his employees to wear ratty jeans to the office. Only an egomaniac would strut around thinking he's hot stuff while looking like someone who needs a bath and a bowl of soup.

DCRogers said...

Apple really pissed off a lot of their core techie market when they threatened to make "iBricks" of any iPhones that people hacked to add custom services... that kind of ubercontrol doesn't go over well, and has many of the creative types hungry for someone to come up with competition. (One failed attempt: Verizon's Voyager [http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20080110/verizons-new-voyager-looks-like-the-iphone-but-software-is-inferior/])

Apple has the best products still, but they're not loved. Means the market could turn, fast, when someone has a better idea. gPhone?

DCRogers

Rob Dawg said...

Apple has made some real mistakes under Jobs. They should have donated OS X lite to the World Laptop project. no, i take that back. they should have provided OS X lite along with a check for $2 billion to the project. World domination for 35¢ per person.

They didn't make a mistake with the iPhone roll out no matter what anyone says. They are in danger now however of losing it with both iBrick and slowness to iPhone 2.0. This ain't desktops circa 1995 Steve. Shoulda been a MacWorld release or at least tease. iPods should be dropping in price on a small regular basis. Whereinthehell is a miniSD slot on a pod or phone?

David called it with the threat of gPhone. It will be clunkier and have all kinds of quirks and worse BUT it will have behind it an organization hell bent upon putting Apple in its rightful place as obedient vassal to GOOG. Pure speculation but what if Google made a deal with the soon to be struggling Starbucks? Special features only on the gPhone and only in the coffee shop? Better, what if Goog tied in real tight with a second tier like coffe Bean & Tea Leaf or perish the thought Dunkin's? They could buy the former out of petty cash.

Ogg the Caveman said...

That could very well be Google's first major source of revenue that's not tied to advertising. They have the Google search appliance and premium versions of a few services, but I don't think those are big moneymakers.

anonymous said...

That was such sweet carnage afterhours. AAPL has a ways to go until it meets reality.

Lou Minatti said...

David called it with the threat of gPhone. It will be clunkier and have all kinds of quirks and worse BUT it will have behind it an organization hell bent upon putting Apple in its rightful place as obedient vassal to GOOG.

There is no gPhone. It's a bunch of apps and Google doesn't want to get into the hardware business. It's fun to dream about inexpensive high-speed wireless connectivity, though. Maybe down the road, but it won't be tied to a particular piece of hardware.

iPod sales were up a whopping 5% last year, despite an almost entirely new product line. That is the real story, and it should be making Apple shareholders nervous. Good thing the Macs are doing so well. Looks like the Mac will have to carry the iPod for a while.

DCRogers said...

Lou's called it right... Apple lucked out that Leopard came out right when Vista was such a nightmare; Macs may take a bigger share of the market now that more apps run on the web, not on the OS.

(Still think AAPL made a big mistake not getting behind Mozilla and the open-source crowd... they could've blasted a big hole into the PC world. But they'll still make strong incremental gains on quality vs. MSFT.)

DCRogers

Lou Minatti said...

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
Are you quoting Neal Peart, or are you quoting French phrases?

Anonymous said...

As a matter of fact AAPL and GOOG deserve to be lumped in the same category. High P/E, insane market cap, flat earnings. Look out below!

Lou Minatti said...

OT but maybe a story for tomorrow: Los Angeles Unified School District sees a 7% decline in enrollment.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-enroll23jan23,0,6286809.story?coll=la-home-center

Anonymous said...

Breeheehee!!

Centipede said...

Let's cut the shit and discuss the real issue: Heath Ledger is dead.
What I'd like to know is how exactly anyone could kill themselves via Ambien and the like - when I was approximately his age I would go through an entire bottle or two and mix it up with whatever else was around in hopes of not having to deal with the various BS at hand and sleep until the next life yet still woke up in the morning and made it to work albeit somewhat groggier than usual.

Ogg the Caveman said...

Given Ledger's role in Brokeback Mountain, do you suppose the Fred Phelps crowd will try to picket his funeral?

Really, I just wanted an excuse to post that picture.

Akubi said...

@Centipede,
I don't get it either and assumed one needed serious barbituates or something to die via pills. As a kid I ate Ajax, bottles of aspirin, Comet, bleach, whatever and nothing happened.
@Ogg,
I thought Ledger was quite good in Brokeback and didn't particularly notice him beforehand.
As far as the photo is concerned, what's up with the weird looking "He's" person on the left?

BJ said...

@Lou Minatti

OT but maybe a story for tomorrow: Los Angeles Unified School District sees a 7% decline in enrollment.

Nice article.. I was reading through it and hit the following:

Construction costs have nearly tripled to $500 per square foot or higher since 2001

The only thing I can think of is WTF!!!! I understand that building schools can be expensive, but we are not installing granite counter tops etc here!! Floors are generally linoleum, not marble or travertine! No Berber carpets! The mind boggles...

BJ said...

$500/sq ft or higher building costs...
somethings seems mighty fishy around here - Elmer Fudd..

chickelit said...

Lou- more evidence that immigration will be a non issue come November

spooq said...

What portfolios? I own an insignificant amount of shares in a single insignificant tech company.

Apple is down so hard because it was small inexperienced iPod-wearing investors who pumped it up in the first place, and those investors are freaking out and dumping. They didn't give a shit about the technical side last year when it was going up, they sure don't now that it's going down.

Lou Minatti said...

$500/sq ft or higher building costs...
My elementary school had a number of temporary buildings. I don't remember that my education suffered.

Seems to me it's the smart way to go. Lower construction costs, and as population trends shift there isn't the huge burden of tearing down/selling/maintaining unnecessary buildings.

Peripheral Visionary said...

On Apple:
Apple is, as has been repeatedly pointed out, priced for perfection. Anything less than perfection, and the perfectionists dump it. I don't know if it's under- or over-valued, but "Apple falling short of expectations" is a consistent theme.

On Schools:
Like college athletic programs and CEO compensation, yet another case where the people who spend the money are not the same as ones who are actually footing the bill, so there are no limits on expenditures. And of course, when it comes to children, there is the "nothing but the best for our children" mentality, which is also why tuition costs have spiralled. People have not grasped the concept that blindly spending exhorbitant amounts of money on children is not always in everyone's best interest (shouldn't that money be going to, like, getting better teachers?)

Property Flopper said...

Ogg -

Great picture! Very true.

Funny Circus Bears said...

High public building costs are due to Davis Bacon ("prevailing wage").

Eliminate that and suddenly schools and all other public buildings are on a buy two and get one free sale.

Jean ValJean said...

Commentary from a columnist of the Dallas Morning Snooze, with funny parts quoted:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/chall/stories/DN-Hall_23bus.ART.State.Edition1.2aed743.html

" Are we talking ourselves into a recession?

Given the turmoil on the world's stock markets, it might seem ludicrous to pose the question, but I'm going to. "

....

"...the about-to-be-built Museum Tower in the Arts District is selling condos for $1.2 million to $20 million at the same time that some new home subdivisions are facing mass foreclosures thanks to the subprime debacle.

And yes, I remember the late 1980s when construction cranes went from state bird to extinction practically overnight.

This time, though, feels different."

Centipede said...

The war in Iraq sure makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.