AAPL hits all-time high, hits $429 ahead of earnings call
updated 07:00 pm EST, Wed January 18, 2012
Expectations rise over holiday sales
On the eve of its education-oriented PR event in New York City tomorrow and less than a week before its fiscal first-quarter earnings call with analysts, Apple stock closed at an all-time high of $429.11 at the end of trading on NASDAQ today. The stock's price had gone as high as $429.47 during the day but fell slightly before the closing bell, still a gain of just over one percent. Analysts believe the company will report a record holiday quarter.
The stock continues to climb in after-hours trading, at this writing hovering close to $430 per share. Apple's market capitalization continues to rise with increased share price, currently at $398.82 billion. AAPL last broke its all-time record just a week ago, closing at over $423 for the first time. Counting today's gains, the stock has risen over seven percent in value since the beginning of the calendar year.
Consensus estimates and Apple's own guidance call for a record-breaking first fiscal quarter to be reported on January 24th, with analysts predicting around five million Macs (up only slightly from last quarter's 4.89 million), just under 30 million iPhones (a huge gain from last quarter's 17.07 million) and about 13.5 million iPads (up from last quarter's 11.12 million). Fortune magazine routinely compares estimates from professional industry analysts versus AAPL stock bloggers; the estimates from the so-called "independents" are considerably higher (and have often been more accurate).
Tomorrow's event in New York is said to focus on the K-12 market and offer Apple's vision of easier textbook and general e-publishing, perhaps introducing a new tool to help schools and educators more easily submit material to publishers (or publish themeselves. The company may also formally embrace the ePub3 standard which allows for richer, more interactive books.
