When a company as rich and valuable as Apple falls below private equity buy out values ,there are still no buyers. Eventually Apple will buy its own stock back. It’s not a broken company, at least not yet although it is a very broken stock now, whatever that means. The Wall Street Journal excerpt sums up my first impressions.
Apparently, earning $13.1 billion in three months – the fourth-largest quarterly profit ever, mind you – is somehow a disappointment. Shares are down 6.3% in late trading amid heavy volume at $482.
Apple reported earnings of $13.1 billion, or $13.81 a share, on sales of $54.5 billion. A year ago, the company earned $13.06 billion, or $13.87 a share, on sales of $46.33 billion.
For perspective sake, that $13.1 billion profit represents the fourth-largest quarterly profit ever, by any company, bested only Exxon ($14.8 billion in the third-quarter 2008) and Royal Dutch ($15.68 billion in the second-quarter 2008) and Gazprom OGZPY -0.41% ($16.24 billion in the first-quarter 2011).