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Apple reported quarterly revenue of $89.5 billion, down 1 percent YoY, and a cash pile of $162.1 billion down from $166.5 billion at the same time last quarter.
After closing Thursday’s trading session on a bullish outlook, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock dropped approximately 3.39 percent during the after-hours to trade around $171.55. Now, in the pre-market, AAPL is 3.36 percent down, at $171. 61. The sudden Apple stock drop amid a bullish outlook on stock indexes was attributed to Q4 2023 earnings results that were not very impressive to shareholders. Notably, Apple announced a revenue of $89.5 billion during the quarter that ended September 30, whereas Wall Street analysts expected the company to report around $89.3 billion. During the fourth quarter, Apple reported that its diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.46, up 13 percent from the same time last year.
Nonetheless, Apple remains the leading company with the largest cash pile of about $162.1 billion, although a decline from $166.5 billion during the third quarter of 2023. As the holiday festive season approaches, Apple anticipates making more sales of its recently unveiled products including the iPhone 15.
“Today Apple is pleased to report a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record in Services,” Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Executive Officer, noted. “We now have our strongest lineup of products ever heading into the holiday season, including the iPhone 15 lineup and our first carbon-neutral Apple Watch models, a major milestone in our efforts to make all Apple products carbon neutral by 2030.”
According to the company’s Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri, Apple remains focused on the long-term growth plan despite returning $25 billion to the shareholders during the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the company’s board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.24 per share, which is payable on November 16 to shareholders as captured on November 13, 2023.
Apple Accelerates Long-Term Growth with New Products and Stores in Q4 2023
Apple developers have focused on emerging technologies in a bid to ensure sustainable future growth prospects amid heightened competition from other tech companies especially from Asia. Earlier this week, the tech giant company announced that its Apple Pencil, which is USB-C compatible, is now available for order from 33 countries including the United States for $79. The new Apple Pencil enters into sleep mode when magnetically attached to the iPad for storage in a bid to conserve battery.
According to the consolidated statement of operations, the iPhone network sales topped the revenue collection during the fourth quarter at about $$43.8 billion. The services segment was the second largest revenue contributor during the fourth quarter with about $22.31 billion. In a bid to further enhance its net sales in Greater China, Apple announced on Thursday that it had opened its fourth new store in the Zhejiang province at MixC Wenzhou.
Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded Apple shares from ‘Overweight’ to ‘sector-weight’ citing a weaker sales growth outlook.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) top executives led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook, senior vice presidents Deirdre O’Brien and Katherine Adams offloaded part of their shareholdings according to filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Notably, Apple CEO Cook sold about 511,000 shares worth approximately $87.8 million. However, after tax deductions Cook received a total of about $41.5 million. As a result, Cook now owns about 3.28 million shares in the California-based company. On the other hand, Katherine and O’Brien sold about 11.3 million shares.
The Apple share sell spree coincides with a general drop in the value of tech stocks. Furthermore, Apple shares have declined about 12 percent since hitting ATH in July to trade around $173.66 on Thursday. Nonetheless, Apple shares have added approximately 34 percent YTD fueled by the latest product launch including the Vision Pro headset and the new iPhone 15.
Nonetheless, the company’s products remained at lower prices in a bid to compete with other smartphone manufacturers like Huawei and Samsung. Additionally, there has been a general smartphone slump in shipments this year compared to last year. According to a report compiled by research firm Canalys, North American smartphone shipments are expected to drop by about 12 percent in 2023.
As a result, analysts at KeyBanc downgraded Apple shares from ‘Overweight’ to ‘sector-weight’ citing a weaker sales growth outlook.
Apple Market Outlook
The last time Apple CEO Cook sold major stock holdings was back in August 2021, when he offloaded shares worth more than $750 million – but received about $355 million after-tax deductions – after completing a decade as the top executive. Earlier this year, Cook took a pay cut of about 40 percent to receive $49 million per annum. However, Cook saw his stock compensation increase from 50 percent to about 75 percent.
The $2.7 trillion valued company reported a sales decline of about 1.4 percent for the fiscal quarter that ended on July 01. Notably, the company reported a revenue of about $81.8 billion with its earnings per share (EPS) having grown by about 5 percent to $1.26.
In the near future, Apple anticipates an increase in smartphone shipments after adding USB-C charger support for its latest products to comply with the European market. Moreover, other smartphone companies have been releasing their devices with support of the USB-C charger type and sold seamlessly across more jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, the company is optimistic about better fourth fiscal quarter results bolstered by over 1 billion in paid subscriptions to its services.
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Reportedly, select staff have access to the developing Apple AI chatbot the company plans will rival ChatGPT and Bard.
Tech giant Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is reportedly developing an artificial intelligence (AI) generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) model to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Following a news report initially published by Bloomberg, Apple stock briefly rose but ended the day up by 0.71%, at $195.1.
As of press time, AAPL has fallen a further 0.64% from its close and is at $193.75 in after-hours trading. In the last year, AAPL has seen a 27.48% rise and more than 50% since January.
Unofficially called the “Apple GPT” according to the Bloomberg report, Apple’s AI GPT is currently only available within the company and is likely only accessible by a select few. According to the report, Apple stalled an internal release because it considered several concerns plaguing generative AI.
The internal GPT system, called Ajax, is reportedly very similar to Google’s Bard and ChatGPT. Apple reportedly named it “Ajax” because it uses Jax, a machine learning framework from Google.
Some staff at Apple believe that the company is working hard at the AI GPT so that a 2024 launch is possible. There are currently no official details on the technology or how Apple would launch the GPT.
Apple AI and the Vision Pro
Apple could successfully pump the sale of its iPhone if it can develop a generative AI chatbot that runs exclusively on the devices. The company could release a new AI chatbot tailored to run on the iPhone chip to assure better performance than available on ChatGPT or Bard.
Apple could also launch the AI chatbot and make it compatible with the upcoming Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. The headset has several features that may benefit from infusion with AI, including life-size images for FaceTime calls, and Spatial Audio.
However, Apple recently reduced its production forecast for the Vision Pro due to design and manufacturing problems. Although Apple still plans to launch the device next year, the plan is reportedly to produce less than 400,000 Vision Pros next year and even lower in 2024. Apple is currently struggling with the yield for the headset’s micro-OLED displays, in-air typing, and several other issues. In addition, the headset’s noted EyeSight feature, which switches the device between transparent and opaque modes for the benefit of people around the user, is glitching.
While Apple has not confirmed or denied the chatbot, the company is no stranger to machine learning as it uses this technology for several features. Machine learning helps Siri with speech recognition and supports the Photos app’s detection of objects in an image, including faces and animals like pets.
If Apple launches an AI product, it would officially join a long list of companies looking for chunks of the AI market since OpenAI launched ChatGPT last year. Bard recently launched in the EU after reservations from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) in June. The DPC said Google did not provide enough info about how the AI tool would ensure user privacy.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
Apple stock rallied more than 45 percent YTD to trade around $189.66 on June 28 fueled by future growth outlook.
The stock of American multinational technology company Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has experienced bullish sentiment YTD to reach new ATH. The tech giant company has widened its revenue collection over the years to become one of the most valuable companies in the world. According to the latest stock market data, AAPL shares have rallied approximately 45.66 percent YTD to trade around $189.66 during Wednesday’s extended trading period. In the past year, Apple shares have ranged between $124.17 and $189.90 with more than 15.73 billion shares outstanding.
As a result, the company’s valuation has risen exponentially to around $3 trillion with few new products in the market.
During the second quarter that ended on April 02, 2023, Apple announced revenue of about $94.8 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of about $1.52. According to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, the company hit a record in services and iPhone sales during the quarter despite the generally challenging macroeconomic environment.
Notably, the company initiated a $90 billion share buyback program after raising the quarterly dividend for the eleventh year in a row. As a result, Apple shareholders are optimistic the company will continue to outperform its competitors in the coming years especially due to its superior products.
“We continue to invest for the long term and lead with our values, including making major progress toward building carbon-neutral products and supply chains by 2030,” Cook noted in the quarterly earnings report.
Apple Performance that Has Impact on AAPL Stock
Apple has grown over the years due to both internal policies and the US government’s initiative to support local tech companies to achieve international markets. Moreover, Apple controls every application downloaded on the iPhone among other products including the Mac computers with a service fee for enhancement of general security.
The fact that people can purchase Apple products but still have the American tech giant control over what applications they use has been economically profitable for the shareholders. The small details have made Apple a success story with prospects of future growth even brighter.
Notably, Apple introduced a new era of spatial computing with the Vision Pro with a myriad of Utility cases. The company has attributed its latest innovation to its M2 and R1 semiconductor chipsets. The new Vision Pro headset is set to significantly tap into the Web3 metaverse that has significantly grown within the cryptocurrency market.
Currently, Apple is valued almost three times more than the cryptocurrency market, which encompasses top digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Moreover, Apple has delivered billions of hardware products to global markets over the years, whilst the cryptocurrency market is mostly speculative trading.
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Apple stock hit its new ATH driven by increased iPhone sales and the launch of a competitive Vision Pro VR headset last week.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares closed Monday trading around $183.79, up 1.56 percent from the day’s opening price. The $2.85 trillion valued tech giant has experienced increased demand for its products, thus motivating investors to double down on its stock market. As a result, the AAPL shares surpassed the prior ATH last week and the market is currently headed to a price discovery phase.
The incredible performance has directly been attributed to the launch of the Vision Pro VR headset to compete with similar products from different companies like Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META). Additionally, the bullish outlook coincided with Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last week where the company unveiled its new product – the Vision Pro VR headset.
Additionally, the company also announced a new bigger MacBook Air laptop coupled with a high-end desktop that is well suited for 3D designers and programmers. As for the iOS operating system, Apple announced several updates to suit the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
The products are expected to increase Apple sales although Apple CFO Luca Maestri suggested the current quarter could record a decline of about 3 percent in revenue on an annualized basis. During the fiscal 2023 second quarter that ended on April 1, 2023, Apple reported a revenue of about $94.8 billion, down 3 percent YoY.
Currently, Apple is undertaking a $90 billion share repurchase program after generating more than $28 billion in cash flow and returning over $23 billion to shareholders during the first three months of the year.
Factors that Push AAPL Stock to Its New ATH
The growth of Apple during the past few years is significantly attributed to the global geopolitical differences that have significantly choked Chinese tech companies due to the lower supply of semiconductor chips. Additionally, the company has also launched 5G-enabled smartphones amid the network rollout in Europe, Asia, and North America. As a result, the company expects its current quarter to perform in a similar manner as the prior one of the macroeconomic factors remain unchanged.
“We expect our June quarter year-over-year revenue performance to be similar to the March quarter assuming that the macroeconomic outlook does not worsen from what we are projecting today for the current quarter,” Maestri noted.
According to market data provided by MarketWatch, AAPL shares have gained approximately 41 percent YTD thus most analysts issuing an average recommendation of Overweight. Having been rated by 42 analysts, AAPL shares received an average price target of about $186.27. For instance, analysts at Wedbush maintained a buy rating on Apple shares with a price target of between $205 and $220.
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Apple stock has declined approximately 26 percent and 13 percent in the past twelve months and three months respectively.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares closed Tuesday, December 27, trading at $130.03, down 1.39 percent from the day’s opening price. The decline continued during the after-hours, whereby AAPL shares exchanged about $129.50 as of December 27, 2022, 7:59 p.m. EST. The latest decline has increased the possibility of Apple shares getting trapped in a fresh multi-week bear market next year. Moreover, iPhone production in Apple’s China plant has been halted, particularly during the end-of-year festivals.
JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee highlighted that the latest iPhone shipment data out of China “confirm industry headwinds.”
Nonetheless, the tech stock market performed dismally on Tuesday with the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 declining 1.38% and 0.40% respectively.
According to market data from MarketWatch, Apple’s stock market has declined approximately 26 percent and 13 percent in the past twelve months and three months respectively.
Apple Stock Market Performance
The $2.1 trillion valued company continues to largely dominate the global tech industry as shown by its quarterly earnings report. During the fiscal 2022 fourth quarter that ended on September 24, 2022, Apple reported revenue of $90.1 billion, up 8 percent year over year. Additionally, the tech company recorded quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.29, up 4 percent year over year.
“Our record September quarter results continue to demonstrate our ability to execute effectively despite a challenging and volatile macroeconomic backdrop,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We continued to invest in our long-term growth plans, generated over $24 billion in operating cash flow, and returned over $29 billion to our shareholders during the quarter…”
In a bid to expand its earnings in the future, the company is exploring the 3D mixed reality market and also allowing third-party app stores. Reportedly, Apple is likely to unveil its augmented-reality/virtual-reality glasses in 2023 through an OS dubbed xrOS.
The company will be competing with the likes of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) and Microsoft in the AR/VR industry. Nonetheless, the AR/VR market is expected to grow exponentially with the metaverse industry indicating immense potential growth in coming years.
Moreover, play-to-earn (P2E) through DeFi has led the cryptocurrency and blockchain market for the past two years.
Meanwhile, Apple investors are looking into a gloomy 2023 following a poor performance in 2022. Notably, Apple shares are likely to revisit 2020 lows – from a technical standpoint- before rebounding to new ATH.
According to a study by MarketWatch, 42 ratings gave Apple shares an average target price of $173.4 and an average recommendation of Overweight.
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AAPL shares have traded sideways since hitting an ATH of $182.94 earlier this year.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares closed Monday trading at $144.22, 2.63 percent lower from the day’s opening price. While the bleeding has stopped in the after-hours trading session, market strategists forecast more decline in the near future as production in Foxconn Technology Group – the Taiwanese company that operates Apple crucial products – remains hampered by the protests against Covid restrictions. As such, Apple and Foxconn anticipate making up for the 6 million iPhone units in 2023.
The supply shortfall has significantly affected Apple customers in the pipeline of receiving the latest device, the iPhone 14 Pro. Moreover, United States Apple customers wait about 33 days to receive their iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. Mind you, in-store pickups for the latest devices are reportedly unavailable.
“The ongoing challenges around delays in returning to a normal production level at the Zhengzhou facility could limit the pace with which supply-demand equilibrium can be reached in the coming months,” JPMorgan analysts said.
Notably, Wedbush Securities analysts estimated that the production halt could affect 5-10 percent of iPhone units in the current quarter. Should the production slowdowns sustain until December, KGI Securities analyst Christine Wang estimated that the figure could come in at around 10 million iPhone units, hereby representing 12 percent.
AAPL Shares and the Market Outlook
AAPL shares have traded sideways since hitting an ATH of $182.94 earlier this year. As a technology company, market strategists are optimistic the company will outperform in the coming quarters. According to a survey conducted by MarketWatch, 43 ratings have given AAPL shares an average target price of $175.69 and an average recommendation of Overweight.
During the fourth quarter, which ended on September 24, the company demonstrated its tech dominance with a healthy balance sheet.
Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, said:
“We continued to invest in our long-term growth plans, generated over $24 billion in operating cash flow, and returned over $29 billion to our shareholders during the quarter …. This quarter capped another record-breaking year for Apple, with revenue growing over $28 billion and operating cash flow up $18 billion versus last year.”
Despite the global geopolitical differences and unpredictable macroeconomic factors, Apple has demonstrated the resilience acquired over decades of existence. According to market data from MarketWatch, Apple has a market capitalization of approximately $2.36 trillion. In other words, Apple’s market cap is three times that of the cryptocurrency market.
The tech company has continued to widen its market scope to increase revenue collection. Moreover, Apple’s competitors are hard at work developing more cutting-edge technology with market demand and affordable prices.
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2021 has been a pretty good year for Wall Street as well as the crypto market. On Monday, January 3, the market soared to an all-time high of the first trading day of the year with Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) joining the party.
The AAPL stock also surged to a new all-time high thereby becoming the first-ever company to hit a $3 trillion milestone. With this move, the world’s largest company managed to outperform the world’s largest cryptocurrency on a yearly chart.
While the gains of AAPL stock over the last year stand at a staggering 40%, the gains for Bitcoin stand at 38%. Needless to say that Apple investors have been enjoying these gains with much lesser volatility and greater peace of mind.
But one must not forget that Bitcoin has still managed to beat several other asset classes once again. Furthermore, Apple is one case in isolation as Bitcoin has managed to outperform several other tech giants over the last year.
What’s In Store for Bitcoin in 2022?
The Q4 of 2021 didn’t prove to be as bullish as many investors had expected the BTC price to touch $100K levels. Bitcoin remained volatile over the last quarter and traded sideways for the entire December of 2021 after hitting an all-time high of $69,000 in the previous month.
Some analysts also believe that Bitcoin could be extending this rally till the mid-half of 2022. While hopes remain high, the broader crypto market has yet to participate in the New Year party as witnessed on Wall Street.
On the other hand, Bitcoin’s on-chain metrics continue to show strength. The illiquid BTC supply has touched an all-time high, meaning, a lot of BTC is moving off exchanges and into cold storage.
#Bitcoin illiquid supply keeps going up!
Price *usually* follows , but who knows whenThe trend is very bullish, even though people hate hearing this when price has dipped.
Uncertainty = Opportunitypic.twitter.com/cSbmFVrMLE
— Bitcoin Archive
(@BTC_Archive) January 3, 2022
Furthermore, the Bitcoin network has fully recovered from China’s Bitcoin mining ban. Over the last weekend, the BTC mining hashrate has touched a new all-time high suggesting increased miner participation.
#Bitcoin hash-rate smashed a new all-time high yesterday! pic.twitter.com/TzEGE3sNRF
— Bitcoin Archive
Let’s know if you think that Bitcoin can still touch $100K levels this year or not.
Disclaimer
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
About Author
Heading into a new trading week, here is a quick roundup of the top five stories from the technology, corporate and cryptocurrency sectors that investors would not want to miss out on from the weekend.
1. Bitcoin Dip Entices Investors: The fall in the price of apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to below the $60,000 mark on Sunday night is attracting investors, it was reported, citing Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. Inflation is expected to grab attention in the upcoming Thanksgiving week, while Bitcoin is seen as a hedge against inflation.
2. Female Worker Sues Tesla: A Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) female worker has filed a lawsuit, alleging that the Elon Musk-led company’s female employees face “rampant sexual harassment.” Jessica Barraza said in her lawsuit Tesla supervisors and the human resources department failed to take action despite her complaint that she was subjected to constant harassment at the factory.
3. Apple Confirms Workers’ Rights To Discuss Pay: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has confirmed to its workers in a memo that they have the right to discuss their wages, hours and working conditions, with the move coming after employees pushed the tech giant to do more to ensure equity in pay. Apple is facing several lawsuits from former employees, who have accused the company of unfair labor practices.
4. Avalanche Overtakes Dogecoin For Top-10 Cryptocurrency Spot: Avalanche has surpassed Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) to emerge as the cryptocurrency with the tenth-highest market capitalization, it was reported, citing CoinMarketCap data.
Meanwhile, Avalanche project founder and Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer took a dig at Ethereum’s congestion and said that Avalanche will “address lesser engineering problems without batting an eyelid.”
5. Elon Musk’s Pot Shot At Biden Administration: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken another pot shot at the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration over purportedly ignoring the fact that his company is the market leader in electric vehicles. Musk was responding to a post on Twitter by entrepreneur David Sacks, who criticised the Biden administration for its “epic gaslighting” of Tesla.
What Else: Among other stories from the weekend, investors would want to check out the EV week in review, the latest sale of Tesla shares worth $30.6 million by Cathie Wood-led investment management firm Ark Invest, and the top ten most-watched movies of all-time on streaming giant Netflix Inc. (NFLX).
In a fresh crackdown, Chinese regulators have ordered Chinese tech giants – including Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) – to pay RMB 500,000 yuan ($78,282) for each of the 43 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions that were not reported by the companies over the past eight years.
Kraken said its customers can now buy cryptocurrencies on its app using Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple Pay and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Pay.
What Happened: The Kraken App would automatically connect with the existing Apple Pay or Google Pay account of customers, the San Francisco-based company said in a blog post.
The app has a minimum purchase amount of $10 and a maximum purchase limit of $7,500 during a seven-day rolling period.
Kraken supports trading of a host of cryptocurrencies including but not limited to Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), Bitcoin Cash (CRYPTO: BCH) and Ethereum Classic (CRYPTO: ETC).
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
Why It Matters: The integration of payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay with the Kraken app will make it easier for the company’s customers to buy cryptocurrency.
The move also comes after Kraken’s rival Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) said in August that it is introducing cryptocurrency purchases with linked debit cards to Apple Pay and Google Pay, with instant cash-outs up to $100,000 per transaction.
Globally, Kraken’s client base trades more than 90 digital assets and 7 different fiat currencies.
The company said in August it plans to expand in Europe by the end of the year.
Price Action: Bitcoin is down 1.5% during the last 24 hours, trading at $42436.19 at press time, while Ethereum is down 3.7% during the 24-hour period to $2,937.50.
Photo: Courtesy of Kraken