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Playing the Market (8/17/98)
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It's up again... Apple's stock continues to inch higher, fueled by reports of an iMac launch that can only be described as successful. Today it nearly reached 43, and finally closed just a hair shy of 42, up almost a point and a half; its high last Friday before the iMac's release was 40.75. A CNET article relates the happy story of Apple's stock, which currently sits well over three times as high as it was at the end of last year. (Is anyone else out there kicking themselves for not buying at 13?)
The fun part about watching Apple's stock is seeing all the analysts scramble to catch up. We recall just six months ago when several analysts were saying that AAPL wouldn't break 30 this year-- which it did in May, not long after the iMac was announced, at which time we were told that it was unlikely to hit 35 by the end of the year. That prediction was proven wrong last month, as was the subsequent prediction that it absolutely wouldn't reach 40 by the end of December. Lou Mazzuchelli, one of the most Apple-knowledgable (and Apple-friendly) analysts, has now raised his twelve-month prediction on Apple's stock to 50. We'll see if that one sticks for a while.
Of course, a company's stock price is by no means the end-all and be-all indicator of how well they're doing, but it's a nice gauge of overall financial confidence. At this point it seems unfathomable that Apple would fail to post a fourth-quarter profit, which would mean that they will have posted profits for a full fiscal year. In addition, we're expecting to see some interesting numbers when the post-iMac market share figures emerge. This could really be the start of something big.
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SceneLink (946)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 8/17/98 episode: August 17, 1998: The iMac's introduction is well received by viewing audiences all over the country. Meanwhile, its rating send Apple's stock ever higher, while mad geniuses in the underground labs are busily crafting the iMac's portable younger brother...
Other scenes from that episode: 945: Box Office Winner (8/17/98) Well, the initial numbers are in (or at least hints of the official numbers, at any rate), and by all accounts, the iMac had a terrifically strong debut weekend. A Bloomberg News article has the qualitative data, if not necessarily some good, scientific quantitative stuff... 947: iMac on the Go (8/17/98) Now that the iMac's here and there's little more guesswork to be done about its breakthrough design (although speculation about its proprietary expansion slot continues to rage-- DVD? FireWire?), it's time to start focusing on the iMac's portable counterpart...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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