some AAPL investors are dumb
Apple stock dropped almost $9 today to $135/share…the cataclysmic news that shaved 6.13% of the company’s value? no, steve jobs didn’t retire…the news is that ‘only’ 146,000 iphones were activated by AT&T by quarter end, June 30. that’s 146k in under 2 days. people who not only coughed up $600 for a phone, but the 50% switching from other carriers were also willing to pay $150-200 early termination fees.
some analysts went nuts estimating up to 700k phones the first weekend. AT&T did have some activation problems the first weekend with overloaded servers (so far almost all the iphone complaints are about AT&T), so the actually number sold may be higher than 146k. regardless, the first 2 days of sales doesn’t make the market. the smart money is looking towards where the market will mature to in ‘09, like Pipar Jaffray’s $205 estimate.
Update (7/25): For those that sold yesterday, big mistake. Q3 earnings were announced today: $0.92/share ($0.72 expected). Shares are up almost $12 in afterhours trading to almost $150.