Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stocks were discussed widely in the starting of 2013 as analysts and investors were concerned about the declining market share of the company in smartphones and tablets. However, with the launch of the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, Apple has re-established its dominance.
With so much to look forward to in 2014, it won’t be bad idea to glance Apple’s performance in 2013. A report from Forbes by Chuck Jones provides a detailed overview of Apple in 2013, some of which is mentioned below.
Quarterly numbers for Apple, in 2013
In January 2013, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported revenue of $54.5 billion, an increase of 18% year over year, an all time high. The decline in gross margin and EPS was seen due to a comparison with a fourteen week quarter. Year over year the iPhones surged 29% and 26% after adjusting for the channel inventory. The 22.9 million iPads climbed 48% year over year and 46% after adjusting for the channel inventory.
The quarter marked the first time Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) gave an outlook for revenues and gross margins in a range, and did not reveal the EPS. The stock tumbled $532 at the start of the year to $443 at the end of March, a decline of 17% due to contraction in gross margin and vagueness over how low it could go further.
During the earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said, “I would suggest it’s good to question the accuracy of any kind of rumour about build plans …. there is an inordinate long list of things that would make any single data point not a great proxy for what’s going on.”
There were over 40 billion downloads and half of them were done over the past twelve months in January. iTunes crossed 25 billion songs sold in February.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock dropped to its lowest of the year at $391 a week before Apple reported the March quarter results. The shares lost 44% from their $702 closing price and declined 27% from the starting of the year. Revenue came in at $43.6 billion, but earnings per share were $10.09, a decline of 18% year over year. Though the iPhone sales were better than expected, the revenue for the quarter was flat. For the June quarter, the revenue came in at $35.3 billion, an increase of 1% year over year and gross margin declined 60 basis points from to 36.9%.
Revenue for the September quarter came in at $37.5 billion, an increase of 4% year over year and gross margin surged 10 basis points or 0.1% to 37.0%.
Apart from numbers
In February, David Einhorn filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over bundling of three proposals in its proxy in a bid to make Apple increase its stock buyback plan through dividend and preferred stock. Apple, as a result, had to increase its buyback program, in April.
In August, activist investor Carl Icahn announced of acquiring a large stake in Apple. In September, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5S with features like 64 bit A7 processor, M7 motion coprocessor and Touch ID. Also, the iPad Air and iPad Retina were successful offerings from Apple. In December, Apple announced an important partnership with China Mobile.
In 2014, analysts and experts would be keenly observing whether or not Apple could meet the expectations on the technology front or will just update its already launched products.
