Gregg Thurman on Counterpoint: As smartphone sales swooned in Europe, the iPhone outperformed - '“Smartphone” should never be a descriptor of the cellphone market. The “smartphone” market didn’t decline, the Android market declined. It would be far more accurate to describe everyone, EXCEPT APPLE, as Android, thereby separating out cheap, low cost cellphones, from in demand, aspirational iPhones no matter their higher prices.'
on Premarket: Apple is red - 'In this last hour of morning trading Apple is off $0.43 at $316.40. All four major indexes are in the red. Walmart reported before the market opened today and the shares have sold off. Currently down $10.96 or 9.59% at $103.34 on conservative forward guidance and some disappointment on the pace of US same-store sales growth. The company did report growth in both revenue and EPS. In my view, in today’s market any indication of disappointment will be reflected immediately in an enterprise’s share price. Apple also experienced a sell-off following the release of June quarter results.'
on Counterpoint: As smartphone sales swooned in Europe, the iPhone outperformed - 'But to many, ‘size’ is itself intrinsically evil. So ‘success’ yields ‘size’ and therefore ‘market dominance’, and that turns a company into something to be attacked and broken up. It’s an argument, basically, that everything should be “equal” where “equal” means “NO competitive advantage”,'
on Counterpoint: As smartphone sales swooned in Europe, the iPhone outperformed - 'I am hoping that Eurocrats see that Apple rules because Europeans drools for iPhone tools. (Sorry, I haven’t had my coffee yet.) Apple is not creating an unfair advantage; they are creating a great product. And the Europeans are purchasing accordingly.'
on Counterpoint: Apple shines on the subcontinent - 'As many here have predicted, memory price increases hurt the others, not iPhone. And, that doesn’t include used iPhone sales.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'The CEO, Bancel, is brilliant. I own a nice lot of MRNA @20/sh. The stock peaked 5 years at nearly 500 during COVID. It’s got a long way to go to pass that milestone, but today’s announcement puts them back on track for significant outperformance, IMHO, over the next several years. A huge win-win, indeed, for science and shareholders.'
on Apple: Risk off in the EU - '“This removes a cloud of legal and financial uncertainty that had weighed on the stock.” Nah, the stock has done well and retraced several times in the last 12 months, but all that action was due to a range of factors other than EU shenanigan weights.'
on Bloomberg: Apple won't be selling any 'PervertPods' - 'The agent provocateur in me poses this question to all Apple 3.0 subscribers: How many of you have a Facebook or Instagram account? Just asking…'
on Bloomberg: Apple's modest CapEx is dragging it down - 'Ryan Vlastelica: “Apple, which has opted to power its AI services through partnerships and avoid the costly arms race for computing infrastructure, is among the 25 worst performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index over the past three weeks.” **Over the last three weeks? Clearly Ryan is not a long-term investor. 🙂 So far, AAPL is up 16.5%, YTD…I couldn’t care less how that percentage compares to the gain of other stocks over the past 3 weeks.'
on Early Apple investor buys first Ferrari EV for $40 million - 'My best was only a ‘66 E-type but I would say the same. Did like my ‘93 Rx7 TT, though. Boys and their toys! 🙂'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'This might be of interest to you, Robert – as well as to others here: https://capitalblueprint.substack.com/p/decoding-herb-wertheims-dual-engine?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web'
on Early Apple investor buys first Ferrari EV for $40 million - 'My personal values dictate: What not to do with the money you make through investments! (I’m more stingy, like Buffett.)'
on Apple leaks a demo of AirPods with eyes (video) - 'Viral marketing or hidden in plain sight for those who are looking?'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Apple closed on an uptick which was nice. Pretty high volume, ~50M.'
on Bloomberg: Apple won't be selling any 'PervertPods' - '“… Apple can learn from all this if it wants its devices to avoid becoming known as “PervertPods …” Apple has very little to learn from Zuckerberg. Apple’s leadership has long considered him to be amoral (or worse) and Facebook’s business model to be ethically suspect. Back in 2018, when Facebook was under fire for enabling the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Cook said “Apple has never believed that detailed online profiles of people should exist. We can make a ton of money if customers were our product. We have elected not to do that.” CNBC: “When asked [in 2018] what he would do if he were currently faced with the problems confronting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Cook said: ‘I wouldn’t be in this situation.’” Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/28/tim-cook-on-facebooks-scandal-i-wouldnt-be-in-this-situation.html'
on Bloomberg: Apple won't be selling any 'PervertPods' - 'Maybe Apple has done the work (thought it through) and facial recognition won’t be part of the deal.'
