Apple Inc Investors Await 'Catalyst' Product After Shares Fell 7.2%; Carl Icahn Buys More Apple Stocks
Apple Inc shares fell 7.2 per cent in trading on Jan 28 after investors were disappointed with iPhone sales for Q1 FY 2014 despite record-breaking figures for the tech giant. The stock price slightly dipped following Carl Icahn's tweet about buying another $500 million Apple shares.
The billionaire activist told CNBC he continues to benefit and made a "great deal of money" when he buys Apple shares that went down. Mr Icahn firmly believes it is "more compelling" for Apple Inc to allow a stock buyback. He reveals he is "encouraged" when Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about the company's plans for new products.
Other investors may have been disappointed with the latest Apple earnings report but at least one person is happy to buy more of the company's stocks, bringing his total stake at $4.1 billion.
Apple investors waiting for "catalyst" product
BMO Private Bank chief investment officer Jack Ablin explained the drop in Apple's share price. He said Apple Inc has only release enhancements of its current products in 2013. The company has not released an innovative product since the iPad and investors want a new product to bring Apple's stocks back up. Apple investors continue to wait for the next "catalyst" product to be released hopefully within the year with the long-rumoured iWatch and a new iPhone with a bigger screen.
Apple Inc has announced that the company sold 51 million iPhones, 26 million iPads and 4.8 million Macs. The iPhone and iPad sales for Q1 FY 2014 broke records as Apple claimed they were both quarterly and all-time highs.
Apple has previously announced an earnings guidance of anywhere between $55 billion and $58 billion. A consensus from average analyst estimates predicted that Apple will sell 55 million iPhones, 25 million iPads and 4.6 million Macs. Based on Apple's reported earnings, only the iPhone sales estimates fell short of analysts' expectations.
Piper Jiffray analyst Gene Munster noted that Apple's average selling price was higher than expected despite a disappointing number of iPhone units sold.