Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Investing Simplified
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
Dividends
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Africa
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
Nicholas Wapshott
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Zachary Karabell
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Reihan Salam
Frederick Kempe
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (1)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Satellite captures "black marble" view of Earth at night
05 Dec 2012
Guatemala detains software guru McAfee, to expel him to Belize
|
1:47am EST
Apple's shares swallow biggest loss in four years
05 Dec 2012
IRS finalizes new tax for medical devices in healthcare law
05 Dec 2012
Obama, Boehner talk; Geithner prepared to go off "cliff"
|
05 Dec 2012
Discussed
161
Egyptian protesters breach presidential palace cordon
138
IRS aims to clarify investment income tax under healthcare law
104
Obama’s opening ”fiscal cliff” bid seeks debt limit hike, stimulus
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Royal babies
Babies born into the monarchy. Slideshow
Living in a sewer
A husband and wife have made themselves a home in an abandoned sewer fitted with a kitchen, fan, TV, a chair and a bed. Slideshow
Sponsored Links
Apple's shares swallow biggest loss in four years
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Dow, S&P rise, but Nasdaq sours with Apple in wild day
Wed, Dec 5 2012
Wall Street rallies on fiscal hopes; Spain hits euro
Wed, Dec 5 2012
Nokia's Lumia deal with China Mobile raises hopes
Wed, Dec 5 2012
Wall Street slips as investors seek cliff progress
Tue, Dec 4 2012
Wall Street sours on weak domestic factory data
Mon, Dec 3 2012
Analysis & Opinion
What investors can look for in 2013
Europe’s naked short selling ban leaves investors with skin in the game
Related Topics
Tech »
Hot Stocks »
Asian Markets »
Media »
Customers gather outside an Apple store before the release of iPhone 5 in Munich early September 21, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Michael Dalder
By Ryan Vlastelica and Poornima Gupta
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO |
Wed Dec 5, 2012 8:50pm EST
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc shares tumbled more than 6 percent on Wednesday, chalking up their biggest single-day loss in four years as fears grow about intensifying competition in the mobile device market.
Investors and analysts blamed the sell-off on a mix of factors, including a forecast by an influential research firm that the iPad maker is continuing to cede ground to rival Google Inc's Android gadgets, and unconfirmed reports that at least one major stock-clearing house was raising margin requirements on Apple stock trades.
Analysts also cited fears about a hike in the capital gains tax in 2013 in the event that ongoing Washington fiscal negotiations fail, as well as news that Nokia had beat Apple to the punch by striking a deal to sell its flagship Lumia through China Mobile, that country's largest wireless carrier.
Wednesday's drop rounded off a bleak 10 weeks for the most valuable U.S. company.
The stock was one of the day's biggest percentage losers on the S&P 500, shedding $35 billion of market value as more than 37 million shares changed hands -- blowing past the company's average daily volume over 50 days of 21 million.
Apple's shares, once among the most desirable of portfolio holdings, have headed steadily lower since September on growing uncertainty about the company's ability to fend off unprecedented competition. This year saw a surge in sales of Amazon.com Inc's cheaper Kindle Fire and Microsoft Corp's first foray into the tablet market with its Surface.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics continues to chip away at the iPad's dominance with its Galaxy line.
The assault on Apple's consumer-electronics home turf presents a stiff challenge for CEO Tim Cook, who was elevated shortly before the death of Silicon Valley legend Steve Jobs and is now charged with keeping the world's largest technology company humming.
"This is not going to be a short-term trend. This is a management test, of how well they can perform without Steve Jobs," said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago. Referring to Apple's new iPad mini, which is only a smaller version of the existing iPad, Battle said the company needs "another home run" for shares to return to levels around $700.
"They need another new product that hits it out of the park. Without that, they could get a gradual grind-down in confidence," he said.
On Wednesday, research firm International Data Corp said Apple most likely shed market share in the tablet computer space in 2012. Its worldwide tablet market share will slip to 53.8 percent in 2012 from 56.3 percent in 2011, while Android products would increase their share to 42.7 percent from 39.8 percent, IDC said.
Concerns that tax rates on dividends and capital gains may rise next year were also cited as contributing to the Apple sell-off.
The stock's massive market value meant Apple was almost single-handedly responsible for Wednesday's 1.1 percent decline in the Nasdaq 100 Index.
Apple is still up 33 percent this year, but is down nearly 24 percent from its record high of $705.07, hit on September 21. The stock slid more than 6.4 percent on Wednesday to close at $538.7923.
BEFUDDLING SLIDE
Some analysts were perplexed at the fall from favor in Apple stock, which has been a staple in almost all growth portfolios. The company is expected to deliver reliably high revenue and earnings expansion for years to come, and one in two tablets sold globally remains an iPad.
It is now gearing up for the introduction of its latest iPhone 5 and iPad mini in international markets. It will begin selling the iPhone 5 in 50 countries in December, including China and South Korea.
"Apple stock is significantly more volatile than its earnings and innovation stream," said Daniel Ernst, analyst with Hudson Square Research. "And yet the wind blows slightly from the south instead of the east one particular morning, and the stock is down 6 percent."
"It makes no sense. There are lines around the block for their products all around the world," he added. "No other company has that."
Separately, Nokia said it will partner with China Mobile, in a sales deal that will give the Finnish company an opportunity to win back Chinese market share from Apple's iPhone.
But some analysts continue to believe the dominant carrier in the world's largest cellular market will eventually embrace the iPhone as well.
"China Mobile already carries multiple smartphones from multiple vendors. We continue to expect China Mobile to add the iPhone in the back half of 2013," Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster wrote in a research note.
While lines for the latest iPad model appeared lighter than usual when it hit stores in November, Apple said at the time that demand was so strong that it "practically sold out of iPad minis." It sold 3 million of the new iPads -- including the full-sized version -- in the first three days on the market.
Some analysts suggested that investors also sold shares of Apple amid uncertainty over ongoing fiscal negotiations in Washington. If no agreement is reached on the issue, higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains are possible in 2013.
Investors who had hoped for a special dividend this year, as many other corporations have announced on expectations of higher tax rates next year, may be disappointed as time is running out.
"If you were expecting a special dividend by year end, that's less likely to happen because its December 5," said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners.
The fear of higher taxes on capital gains also has prompted some investors to lock in profits now, particularly on a stock like Apple, which has posted gains of at least 25 percent for four consecutive years.
"Depending on what happens with the (U.S. fiscal negotiations), rates could rise next year or they could stay the same," said Battle, of Performance Trust Capital. "They will not be lower, so if you're an investor who has seen gains in Apple, it is better to take those gains this year rather than next."
Tax selling "can take a life of its own," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.
"Some taxable investors take the gains, that creates some negative momentum, institutional investors are heavily weighted the stock and reduce exposure."
Some market participants also cited reports by media including CNBC, which Reuters could not confirm, that margin requirements on the trading of Apple stock had been raised by at least one clearing firm.
(Additional reporting by Charles Mikolajczak in New York and Doris Frankel in Chicago; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Andrew Hay, Leslie Adler and Ken Wills)
Tech
Hot Stocks
Asian Markets
Media
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (1)
mynamehear2 wrote:
Edition:
U.S.
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.