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I think this will be the biggest pre-order ever.
Apple has just unveiled its brand-spankin'-new iPhone 6, and mobile carriers are practically falling over one another in a fight for your business.
Sprint: Sprint (S) said that customers can trade in up to three phones per line, offering up to $300 per traded-in phone. It also said it would match any competitor's trade-in offer.
Sprint also is offering a unique plan for iPhone customers called "iPhone for life." Customers can pay $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and data -- $10 cheaper than its current plan. You pay nothing up front for a new iPhone 6, but you have to lease it from Sprint for $20 a month. After two years, you get a new, free iPhone.
T-Mobile: The "Uncarrier" said it would match any rival's trade-in plan. To one-up Sprint, T-Mobile (TMUS) said it would throw in $50 on top of that.
Verizon: Verizon (VZ, Tech30) is offering a "free iPhone 6" by giving customers a $200 credit for a trade-in phone. That $200 covers the upfront cost of the new 16 GB iPhone 6.
Related: Verizon offers iPhone 6 for free
AT&T: Ma Bell hasn't offered any specific pricing yet for the iPhone 6, though it launched a pre-order page that says "new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with $0 down from AT&T (T, Tech30)."
Wal-Mart: Carriers aren't the only ones offering deals on the iPhone 6. Wal-Mart (WMT), which has been among the most aggressive iPhone discounters, said it will offer the iPhone 6 for $179 with a two-year contract on Sprint, AT&T or Verizon, and it will throw in a $15 gift card.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/10/technology/mobile/iphone-6-deal/index.html
I think this will be the best year for AAPL! All of this deals will definitely bring in more customers on the pre-order day.
Walmart cuts iPhone 6, 6 Plus prices for preorder
Though Apple's new smartphones are set to cost $199 and $299, the big box retailer has put its prices a bit lower.
by Dara Kerr
@darakerr
September 10, 2014 2:08 PM PDT
The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Josh Miller/CNET
A day after Apple unveiled its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Walmart is cutting prices.
The big box retailer will begin selling the 16GB iPhone 6 for preorder on Friday, September 12, for $179. This deal is available on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint and is valid only with a two-year contract. Those people who preorder the smartphone will also receive a $15 e-gift card from Walmart when they pick up their device. The retailer will make the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus available on September 19 for $279.
On the event of launch for the iPhone 4S it went up 13%. How how will this event of launch for the iPhone 6 go before the pre-order starts? I am thinking higher.
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-happens-to-apples-stock-when-it-announces-a-new-iphone-2014-9
The data is stored on the iPhone and not on a server. You can't really get the data unless you have the physical phone on you. People can go online and lock the cell phone so nobody can access the phone unless you go back online and unlock it. So I think it's pretty safe and I'm all for it.
I don't know but I would assume we will hear something Monday or Tuesday on the pre-sale that are scheduled for the 12th at 12am.
Apple makes most of its money from iPhone sales. The watch is just a bonus.
Pre-order starts this Friday. Can't wait to order it to receive it next Friday.
The iPhone 6 and watch look sick but the price of the watch is a little too high. Gonna get my pre-order in for the phone on the 12th.
If history repeats itself than this will go crazy a few days before the products are release for sale. Normally the products are released for sale a week after the unveil of the products.
iPhone 6, iPhone 6L and iWatch will be unveil tomorrow. Can't wait to see what those new products look like.
I think AAPL will rise after the unveil of the new products. This time around we are more setup for a rise. The RSI is low enough that it has a lot of room for a great run.
Back in the triple digit!
Agree
I see a gap up tomorrow morning. We needed this little pullback to go higher.
Today is a gift from AAPL before the unveil if the new products next week. Picked up some more shares.
104 tomorrow
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is planning a new partnership with major payment networks, including Visa (NYSE:V), MasterCard (NYSE:MA) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) to transform the next iPhone into a mobile wallet, Bloomberg reports.
The announcement follows earlier reports that the iPhone 6 will feature NFC and support a mobile payments platform.
Along with a fingerprint recognition reader that debuted on the most recent iPhone, the NFC enabled device will be able to ensure secure payments.
I think we shall see green days everyday next week.
AAPL is heating up. Only a week in a half left till we see the iPhone 6 and iWatch.
That was a very nice bounce
I think we going to close around 102 today
2-1/2 more weeks till the unveil of the new iphone 6. They might introduce the iWatch the same day.
The triple digits are holding up pretty good. We are getting pretty close to the release of the new iphone.
They mentioned this before but haven't done it yet. Spinning out Paypal was in the talks for awhile. It's only speculation right now. I think unless they really decide to do it than this rise will hold.
That was a nice bounce. Took my profit and wait for an entry point. RSI is at the overbought territory and screaming. I think it should move back down later in the day.
Took some off the table yesterday. Going to buy back in next week if it goes lower. GLTA
We all wish that it will go up and up forever without any pullbacks but we all know that it will not happen. Pullback is bound to happen but we know that AAPL has a lot of potential to move back up higher. RSI is over 70 and that is a sign that it will pullback soon. We just don't know when. In the long run we will be much higher. In the short term we need to fill the gaps.
I think we going to pullback a little starting tomorrow to fill the gaps than move up higher before September 9th. If we don't pullback than there won't be any room to move higher on the unveil of the iPhone 6.
The unveil of the iPhone 6 is in less than a month. This will stay in the trips from now on. Congrats all longs!
It didn't take that long to hit the trips. Let's keep it in the trips from here on out.
Hit the $100
The index futures advance as Ukraine begins truce talks. AAPL will be going for $100 later today or tomorrow. Nothing going to stop it now.
I am ready for an upgrade. Can't wait for the iPhone 6 to come out. I guess I only need to wait another month to buy one.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) will debut the long-awaited iPhone 6 next month, which reportedly will feature a 5.5-inch screen that is made of sapphire, a more durable material than glass or plastic. The new iPhone is likely to be a big hit with smartphone users, which could help the tech giant steal marketshare away from Android-based phones.
Data released this week by IDC showed that Apple's share of the worldwide smartphone market fell to 11.7% last quarter versus 24.9% for Samsung, 6.7% for Huawei, 5.2% for Lenovo and 4.8% for LG. Overall, seven Android phones are sold for every iPhone. It is worth noting that the second quarter tends to be Apple's slowest and many consumers have been holding off on purchasing a new phone in anticipation of the iPhone 6.
Related: Plenty of people around the world want a new iPhone
StockTwits Chairman Howard Lindzon, who is long Apple stock, dismissed the IDC report, arguing that what matters is that the company's "products are great, the stores are great, and new products are coming."
Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Aaron Task says one advantage for the Android camp is pricing. Lindzon agrees. "Pricewise, yes, Android has made huge inroads," he says. "Kudos - it's great for the industry."
Task asks whether Apple can maintain its current levels of premium branding and premium pricing, even as Android prices come down.
"There's two things that matter: my glass shouldn't break... [and] my phone should last longer. Whoever solves those is going to get the next level of trust." But, says Lindzon, the sapphire phone will cost more.
He tells Yahoo Finance that Apple's current stock price reflects "a big move" that is about to happen, which Lindzon believes is to the upside. He predicts Apple could become the first $1 trillion company, barring any major market crash.
One possible catalyst for that big move to the upside, in Lindzon's view, is a new product that makes a splash, whether it's the iPhone 6 or "some new product around our cable box."
Another possible option is the iWatch. According to a report published in Forbes on Friday, some are speculating the iWatch could turn into a $9 billion market.
Apple shares are up more than 20% since the start of the year. Apple's market cap is $587 billion.
More from Yahoo Finance
What a recovery! AAPL going to be nice all the way to the release of the iPhone 6.
Summary
Apple may launch the iPhone 6 in less than a month.
The next iPad should be about a month behind.
Short interest hit another 2014 low.
Apple is still your best bet in large-cap tech.
We're getting close to that time of year. The summer is nearly over, and that means back to school for many and back to work for others. What this also means is that it is time for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to start releasing its next generation of products. We could be less than a month from the first new product launch, meaning that the final countdown clock has certainly started. Today, I'll discuss what this all means for the tech giant.
The iPhone 6 is almost here:
In my most recent Apple article, I discussed why I thought a recent rumor about the iPhone 6 being delayed was highly questionable. MacRumors believed that the new phone would not come out until October, which goes against Apple's history recently of releasing the phone in September. Also, quarterly guidance from the company did not mesh with an October launch. If an October release was coming, I figured Apple would need to warn for fiscal Q4 (September-ending quarter), and I did not think that would happen.
Well, sanity seemed to return a bit last week, when the latest rumor stated Apple would be holding an iPhone event on September 9th. This makes a lot more sense, and would lead everyone to believe that the new phone would be released on Friday, September 19th. That fits with what Apple has done in recent years, allowing a little more than a week of sales before the quarter's end. Here's an overview of what the rumor mill has been churning out lately:
In addition to 4.7" and 5.5" displays (widely reported), the rumor mill has mentioned sapphire cover glass, optical image stabilization, an NFC radio, wireless charging, and Cat-6 LTE (theoretical max speeds of 300Mbps) as potential new features.
With Apple expected to launch larger screen phones, the company has been looking to fetch higher prices for these devices. As seen on page 27 of the most recent 10-Q filing, Apple has seen a 12% increase in iPhone unit sales for the first nine months of this fiscal year. However, total iPhone revenues are only up by 9%, meaning the average selling price has gone down. This is logical, considering sales of older phones and the cheaper 5C. However, with these new iPhones expected to cost more to manufacture, Apple is looking to charge more. A higher price for these new phones could help soften any margin weakness from the new form factor.
The iPhone 6 may be Apple's most anticipated product ever, and it is the device that most expect will help push Apple shares to a new all-time high. Technically speaking, those that bought at the peak have still made money thanks to dividends, but Apple has yet to crack that $705 high on a split-adjusted basis. Apple recently approached $100 after the 7 for 1 split, but has not cracked triple digits during the trading day yet. There are expectations that shares could hit a new high even before the iPhone 6 launches.
Don't forget about the iPad:
While the iPhone is certainly the most important product for Apple, let's not forget about the second biggest revenue driver, the iPad. The extremely popular tablet has lost a little of its luster this year thanks to the success of phablets and an increase in lower-cost tablets. In the first nine months of the fiscal year, Apple reported a 2% decline in iPad unit sales and a 3% decline in revenues over the prior year period.
Apple will probably update the iPad during October, and we've recently heard that production has started. My best guess is that the company will have an iPad event the week of October 13th-17th, and that new models will go on sale a few weeks later. For Apple to have a really strong holiday season, it will need to get its tablet sales back on track. We've heard the possibility of a larger screen iPad coming, so a third model of the iPad could help drive new sales.
Estimates coming down as expected:
When Apple reported Q3 earnings in July, guidance for fiscal Q4 was a little lighter than most expected. Analysts were looking for about $40.44 billion in fiscal Q4 revenues, but Apple gave a range of $37 billion to $40 billion. Apple did miss analyst estimates for fiscal Q3 revenues, so the bear camp was extremely happy, even though Apple was well within its guidance range and above its guidance midpoint for the quarter.
As expected, we have seen analyst estimates come down. The revenue average has come down exactly by $1 billion, while the EPS average has come down by a nickel. Analysts are currently at $39.44 billion for fiscal Q4, a rise of more than 5% from the prior year period, about $2 billion. Right now, the average is toward the higher end of Apple's range, so expectations will be high. On the EPS side, analysts are looking for $1.29 in the period, up from a split-adjusted $1.18 in the year ago quarter.
With revenue estimates coming down for fiscal Q4, we have seen the analyst average rise a little bit for the December-ending fiscal Q1. The current number stands at $62.39 billion, up from $62.17 billion when the company reported its latest quarter. Analysts are looking for more than 8% growth from last year's $57.59 billion, which was Apple's all-time record for sales in a quarter. The EPS average has not changed and stands at $2.32, up from $2.07 in last year's period.
An update on short interest:
A couple of weeks ago, I detailed how short interest for Apple recently hit a 2014 low. Short interest spiked in the first month and a half of this year for Apple, but then we saw a lot of covering take place. We recently got another update on where things stand, and the chart below shows a history of Apple's short interest.
(Note: Last data point on chart for settlement date of 7/31/14)
At the end of July update, short interest declined by a little less than 200,000 shares. That's a very small change, considering how more than 103 million shares were still short at the end of that month. However, this marks a new low point for short interest in 2014. As we get closer to new product launches, the number of those betting against Apple has certainly come down.
Looking forward into fiscal 2015:
As we are almost halfway through August already, Apple's fiscal year only has about a month and a half to go. By the time the iPad is launched, the company will be in a new fiscal year, and we'll be talking about the period ending in September 2015. For investors wanting a comparison of other top tier tech names, I'll do just that in this section. In the table below, I'll show fiscal year comparisons for Apple against Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). While these names are not all exact competitors to Apple, they do have similar characteristics when it comes to growth, dividends, buybacks, etc.
*Non-GAAP estimates for EPS, and thus P/E is non-GAAP. Price used is from Class A GOOGL shares.
**Non-GAAP estimates for EPS, and thus P/E is non-GAAP. Price used is Wednesday's closing price, and EPS estimate heading into company's quarterly report.
These five names each provide a decent package to investors. Google provides the most amount of growth, but at the highest valuation, and with no dividend and buyback. Cisco provides the highest dividend yield. Intel provides a nice turnaround story along with an accelerating buyback. Microsoft provides a decent balance of growth and value.
In the end though, I still believe Apple provides the best overall package. Of the four dividend paying names, Apple is expected to have the most earnings growth, and that is in part to the biggest buyback in the market today. Apple also offers a decent dividend, a nice amount of projected revenue growth, and trades at a very reasonable valuation. Apple also is the highest rated of the four dividend paying names on the street.
Final thoughts:
The final countdown clock has started when it comes to Apple launching new products. We should be within a month of the next iPhone being announced, and about a month after that the next iPad should come. Analyst estimates have come down as expected, but so has short interest. All in all, Apple provides the best overall package in terms of large-cap tech, primarily thanks to its growth opportunities and strong buyback. Apple is getting close to $100 again, and we could see new highs before these critical product launches come.
Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: Investors are always reminded that before making any investment, you should do your own proper due diligence on any name directly or indirectly mentioned in this article. Investors should also consider seeking advice from a broker or financial adviser before making any investment decisions. Any material in this article should be considered general information, and not relied on as a formal investment recommendation.
3 more week till the iPhone 6 show
The military drill has ended but what if those 280 convoys are a distraction to invade Ukraine. Nobody really know what Putin is thinking but we all hope he is going to do the right thing.
Putin and his Russian convoys going in Ukraine is messing up the stock market. Issues with Iraq is also putting some tension on the market. AAPL is following the market right now. :(