Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook tweeted a thank you to Apple’s loyal customer base after the company sold more than 9 million new phones within just three days of launching the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. There has been a lot of criticism from some investors and analysts who had hoped that the iPhone 5C would be cheaper, but Cook has improved guidance following the strong weekend sales, report Poornima Gupta and Jennifer Saba for Reuters.
Thanks to all our amazing customers for the fantastic weekend!
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 23, 2013
Apple has found the audience that it cares about
The nine million in combined sales almost doubled the launch of the iPhone 5 and sailed past consensus expectations of six million. Part of the increase over iPhone 5 sales is that China has been included in a launch for the first time, but skeptics thought the new models were priced too high to take advantage of emerging market demand. Clearly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has found the audience that it cares about.
The high-priced iPhone 5S is sold out in cities around the world, and people who ordered the phone online may have to wait a few weeks before it is shipped. Only the gold version is currently available, with silver and grey models due out next month.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has said that their gross profit margins and revenues should come in at the top end of its original forecasts, 36 – 37 percent and $34 – $37 billion respectively. Share prices were up 5 percent on Monday, hitting $490.64 as investors came back to the company that some had been worried might disappoint for the first time in years.
Carl Icahn bought more stock in Apple two weeks ago
Not everyone is surprised that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has continued to perform. Carl Icahn bought more stock in Apple two weeks ago, and has been telling anyone who will listen that Apple stocks are one of the only good deals around. The main reason Icahn has been investing so heavily in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is that it has $147 billion in cash basically lying around, and Icahn wants some of that money distributed to shareholders. It doesn’t hurt for share prices to go up at the same time. He says that Cook is open to the idea of a big stock buyback, but Apple’s management hasn’t publicly broached the idea.
