Apple is still riding high after adding more than $160 billion to its market cap since the beginning of August, a sum that vaulted the once-bankrupt consumer-tech giant past the $1 trillion valuation mark, cementing its status as the world's most valuable publicly-traded firm. So, with its eye firmly fixated on the prize, the company is reportedly preparing to unveil its latest batch of three new iPhone models that, according to Bloomberg, will represent the most expensive offerings that the company has ever introduced. And when Apple CEO Tim Cook takes the stage on Wednesday for the company's annual product launch, analysts will already be looking ahead to the year-end holiday sales season.
While smartphone sales increased by a meager 2% last quarter, analysts widely expect that Apple, which commands an army of dedicated consumers, won't disappoint, as Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid humorously explains.
Today is the day where every year I wake up completely happy with my current phone but go to bed completely dissatisfied with it and the day I have to justify to my wife why I need a new phone while realising after listening to myself that I don’t. However, since having children this conversation has gotten easier as the camera usually gets ever so slightly better each year and I can persuade my wife that the photos of the kids will be enhanced. So yes, it’s the annual Apple iPhone launch day. Given their status as the world’s biggest company it does matter for markets as well as for personal curiosities. They’ve added $160bn of market cap since the start of August which to put in some context that amount would equate to the 35th biggest S&P 500 company and the 13th biggest STOXX 600 company.
Looking back to Apple's latest earnings report could provide some insight on the company's strategy going forward. While iPhone sales, historically one of the company's most important metrics, declined, Apple still managed to beat on both the top- and bottom lines, largely thanks to the $1,000 price tag of the Apple X, which was, at the time, the most expensive phone the company had ever released. This allowed the company to reap higher profits even as unit sales disappointed.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-12/heres-everything-you-need-know-about-wednesdays-apple-product-launch?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29
Despite rumors of production cutbacks at some of Apple's biggest suppliers, the company beat expectations last quarter for both the top- and bottom-lines when it published its latest batch of earnings, sending the stock to what were then all-time highs.
But even if consumers refuse to agree with Warren Buffett about Apple's products being "enormously underpriced", investors still have plenty of reason to stay bullish. After all, global ETF demand combined with a buyback-driven shrinking float (which will artificially inflate earnings), Apple will almost certainly leverage its giant cash pile to buttress the share price no matter the cost.
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Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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