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Same Old Same Old (4/19/00)
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Okay, now we're starting to get just a little annoyed; has Apple perhaps forgotten that it's starring in a soap opera, here? Back at the dawn of time, when AtAT first crawled its way out of the virtual primordial soup, the company understood what financial drama was all about: gushing red ink, and lots of it. "Will Apple survive?" That was the question on everyone's lips. Now that was the "we'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge" kind of drama that soap fans were looking for.
Not long after, though, Apple changed the schtick to keep the audience interested; after all, a solid year's worth of financial strife starts to wear a little thin. There was Steve's first surprise profit, and suddenly we found ourselves immersed in a comeback story, rooting for the underdog to succeed against overwhelming odds. The stuff of legend! And every quarter, Apple pulled it off-- Street-beating profit after Street-beating profit. But now we have to ask: doesn't Apple seem to be in a rut, financially and dramatically speaking? Here we are, looking at the numbers for Q2/2000, and frankly, we're heard this story before. Many, many times. Oh, sure, the numbers are slightly different-- this time it's a recurring net profit of $160 million-- but the plot's the same: Apple made money, and beat the analysts' consensus. Read Apple's press release; doesn't it seem oddly familiar?
Alas, what with all the growth and the kick-ass product line and the competent money-management of Fred Anderson, we fear that Apple's numbers may well be consistently excellent for years to come. That means that, financially speaking, we'll have to make our own drama. So it's lucky we still have the Beat The Analysts contest, right? The results have been tabulated, and the winners have been determined: three cheers for Bryan Robbins, Justin Hallman, Rick Sutcliffe, and Eric Gowans, all of whom nailed Apple's Q2 profits "right on the money." After what was a very unsurprising conference call from Apple, we feel we really have to thank everyone who entered our contest to help keep things interesting. Go check out the final results if you haven't already.
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SceneLink (2239)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/19/00 episode: April 19, 2000: Blah blah blah $160 million profit blah beat analysts' estimates blah blah. Meanwhile, Apple's board approves a 2-for-1 stock split pending shareholder approval, and what's with the serious dearth of insider Apple info on the web these days?...
Other scenes from that episode: 2240: Collecting Old Debts (4/19/00) If all you were looking for was the bottom line, then Apple's conference call was dull in the extreme; the company made $233 million ($160 million if you ignore the sale of more ARM stock) and trounced the analysts for, what, the thirteenth quarter in a row or something?... 2241: Our Lips Are Sealed (4/19/00) Is it just us, or do things seem a little slow in Rumorville? More specifically, we're noticing a distinct drought of so-called "inside information" these days-- and so have some of you, judging by the questions you folks send in...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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