Apple becomes 1st private company worth $1 trillion

NEW YORK — Apple became the first private-sector company to surpass $1 trillion in market value Thursday following its latest surge after reporting strong quarterly earnings.

Shares of Apple briefly hit $207.05 in late-morning trading, before retreating somewhat. The gains came after the iPhone maker reported strong earnings late Tuesday that prompted a two-day rally in the share price.

The company’s stock was at $206.85, up 2.7 percent near 1620 GMT. Apple said it currently has 4.83 billion shares outstanding.

As with other landmarks — such as the Dow crossing 25,000 for the first time —the Apple record is significant because of its resonance beyond the financial universe.

“The $1 trillion mark is more psychological, and sends a message of growth and size into the market,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

But many financial insiders view the record as a non-event, despite breaching the psychological barrier.

“There’s no real excitement on the trading desk,” said Karl Haeling of LBBW. “It’s one of those things that does not mean anything by itself… it’s more a testimony of the importance of Apple on the market.”

The landmark is the latest victory for Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who faced skepticism when he took reins of the iconic technology giant in 2011.

Credit to Cook 

He took over after the death of founder Steve Jobs, who was identified with launching many of Apple’s most iconic products, including the iPhone smartphone and the iPad tablet.

But Cook has gradually won accolades from investors by pumping out a series of solid financial results and further spreading Apple’s products to China and other foreign markets.


On Tuesday, Apple reported that net profit jumped more than 30 percent to $11.5 billion. Revenue in the fiscal third quarter soared 17 percent to $53.3 billion from the same period a year earlier due to sales of pricier iPhones, online services and wearable devices.

The record also cements the continued supremacy of US technology companies to the broader market, with other large technology giants Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook regularly rounding out the top five in market

Apple is the first private sector company to reach this level, but state oil company PetroChina briefly broke the $1 trillion barrier in 2007 during its initial public offering, but has since dropped back down. /ee

source: technology.inquirer.net

Dow, S&P 500 end down slightly as Apple, energy weigh

The Dow and the S&P 500 edged lower on Monday as energy shares dropped with oil prices and Apple retreated a day before its quarterly results.

Investors were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which begins on Tuesday. The market is looking for clues on the outlook for when the Fed may begin raising interest rates.

Apple shares fell 3.2 percent to $115.28, making it the biggest drag on all three major indexes, while a weak outlook from one of its suppliers, Dialog Semiconductor , led a fall in other semiconductors. An index of semiconductors was down 2 percent after three days of gains.

The iPhone maker reports quarterly results after the market closes on Tuesday.

"With Apple, it's more about their forecast and China news and any upgrades they may want to announce," said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The S&P energy sector fell 2.5 percent, leading sector declines for the S&P 500. Crude oil prices slipped as global oversupply pushed fuel storage sites close to capacity. Exxon fell 2.1 percent to $81.22, while Chevron was down 2.7 percent to $88.77.

US stocks have mostly gained in October after a weak third quarter. The S&P 500 is up 7.9 percent for the month so far.

"It's been a pretty big move up, so we're seeing a little bit of consolidation today," Meckler said.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.65 points, or 0.13 percent, to 17,623.05, the S&P 500 lost 3.97 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,071.18 and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.84 points, or 0.06 percent, to 5,034.70.

Among the top Nasdaq gainers, shares of Ctrip.com were up 22.1 percent at $90.78 after the online travel firm said it would merge with Qunar Cayman Islands. Qunar jumped 7.9 percent to $42.65.

Strong quarterly results from tech companies have helped improve expectations for overall US third-quarter earnings.

S&P 500 earnings are forecast to have declined 2.8 percent in the quarter, based on actual results from about 35 percent of the S&P 500 companies and estimates for the rest, compared with a 4.2 percent decline forecast at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Data showed new US home sales fell 11.5 percent in September, suggesting a softening of the housing market. An index of housing shares was down 0.4 percent.

Other gainers included Pep Boys, which jumped 23.4 percent to $14.99 after it agreed to be acquired by Bridgestone for $15 per share.

Piedmont Natural Gas rose 36.9 percent to $57.82 after it agreed to be bought by Duke Energy. Duke Energy fell 2 percent.

After the bell, shares of Hartford Financial fell 4.7 percent to $46.50 following its results.

During the session, NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancers 1,916 to 1,153, for a 1.66-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,749 issues fell and 1,077 advanced, for a 1.62-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and eight lows; the Nasdaq recorded 111 new highs and 73 lows.

About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 7.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data. — Reuters

Apple Watch in stores on April 24, high-end version costs $10,000

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc will begin selling its new watch in stores on April 24, with the high-end model starting at $10,000, the company said, rolling out its first new product in five years in a bid to extend its preeminence in mobile devices.

The Apple Watch sport will start at $349 for the smaller, 38-mm model. The standard version of the watch will start at $549 and the high-end "Edition" watch will be priced from $10,000, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Monday.

The different versions of the watch feature different materials for the case: the "Edition" version comes in 18-karat yellow or rose gold, for instance.

Pre-orders will start on April 10, and the April 24 launch will include stores in the United States, China, Japan and six other countries.

Apple shares trimmed earlier gains and were nearly flat in mid-afternoon trade on Nasdaq.

In the presentation, Cook described the watch handling many functions currently associated with the iPhone, which tethers wirelessly to the watch and connects it to the Internet. For instance, Uber cars can be contacted from the watch.

The watch will track exercise, remind wearers of events with a tap on the wrist, and make calls through the tethered phone, since the watch has a built in speaker and microphone, he said.

"I have been wanting to do this since I was five years old," said Cook. He also laid out other product successes and launched a new MacBook notebook computer that starts at $1,299 and weighs as little as 2 pounds.

Every major car brand had committed to delivering Apple's CarPlay entertainment system, and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have 99 percent customer satisfaction rates, he said. The Apple Pay payment system is now accepted at 700,000 locations, and Time Warner Inc's HBO in April will debut its streaming HBO NOW service on Apple TV.  — Reuters