AAPL Jun 2021 170.000 call
| Previous close | 104.82 |
| Open | 104.82 |
| Bid | 103.60 |
| Ask | 107.75 |
| Strike | 170.00 |
| Expiry date | 2021-06-18 |
| Day's range | 104.82 - 104.82 |
| Contract range | N/A |
| Volume | 1 |
| Open interest | N/A |
EngadgetApple’s maxed-out Mac Pro costs $50,000, we came up with better ways to spend that money
Yesterday Apple’s redesigned, revamped Mac Pro went on sale. This is Apple’s first significant Pro-level desktop upgrade in a long time, but it comes at a price. A fully maxed out Mac Pro costs $52,000 Mac Pro. Well, $52,599, to be precise. And that DOESN’T include the $5,000 for a Pro Display XDR, or its $1,000 stand. We did some math, and think it's important you know that for that price, you could by over 2,000 Baby Yoda plush dolls. We trust you know how to best spend your money.
- Zacks
Netflix's Streaming Dominance Challenged by Disney & Apple
Netflix (NFLX) is facing significant challenges from Apple and Disney in the streaming space.
- Bloomberg
Apple Analyst Sees ‘Sustained Softness’ in China iPhone Sales
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. has recently seen weak iPhone sales in China, according to Credit Suisse, adding to recent caution about the region.Shipments of the iPhone fell 35.4% on a year-over-year basis in November, “significantly lagging the 0.2% y/y increase in the broader Chinese smartphone market,” analyst Matthew Cabral wrote to clients, citing MIIT data. Cabral has a neutral rating and $221 price target on the stock.While monthly data is “volatile” and the timing of recent iPhone launches could be skewing comparisons, “the drop in November marks the second straight double digit decline.” This “sustained softness” is “an incremental concern,” although Credit Suisse is reluctant to extrapolate the trend to other regions.Shares of Apple fell as much as 1.3% on Thursday, though the stock pared those declines after President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. was “getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China.” Apple shares have been highly correlated to issues surrounding the U.S.-China trade war.Credit Suisse wrote that the lower-priced iPhone 11 was the most popular model, following similar commentary from KeyBanc Capital Markets about North America and Western Europe. The lower average selling price of this model “likely adds further pressure to Apple’s Greater China sales,” Credit Suisse wrote.The comments come after UBS wrote that “overall iPhone demand in China was down ~35% YoY in the month of November,” a trend that was “likely impacted” by the timing of model launches.“If we look at the data over the last five months, which normalizes the impact of launch timing, iPhone shipments are down 5% versus 3.3% overall market decline,” wrote analyst Timothy Arcuri in a note dated Dec. 11. UBS has a buy rating and $280 price target on Apple.Apple derived nearly 17% of its 2019 revenue from the greater China region, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The iPhone accounted for nearly 55% of its total 2019 revenue.Earlier this week, Rosenblatt Securities wrote that Apple may cut production of its iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Max by about 25%, due to weaker demand for the two models.(Updates stock to market open in fourth paragraph, adds Trump tweet)To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Steven FrommFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
AMD Augments Graphics Capabilities Through New Radeon GPU
AMD launches new Radeon Pro W5700X GPU for Mac Pro users. The configuration enables tackling heavy workloads.
- Zacks
ByteDance's Resso Stirs Up Competition in Music Steaming Space
Tik Tok-parent ByteDance's new music app Resso is expected to challenge the dominance of Spotify (SPOT) and Apple in the music streaming space.
- Zacks
APAC Smart Speaker Boom Highlights AMZN, BABA, GOOGL & Others
Smart speaker market in Asia-pacific (APAC) region is gaining steam on the back of growing efforts by Amazon (AMZN), Google, Alibaba, Baidu and Apple.
- Bloomberg
Aramco Closes Just Below $2 Trillion Goal in Second-Day Gain
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Aramco shares rose for a second day, but the oil giant failed to hold on to the $2 trillion valuation that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had long targeted.The stock climbed 4.6% to close at 36.80 riyals in Riyadh, finishing at $1.96 trillion. Aramco earlier rose as much as 10%, the daily limit, in trading of 418 million shares, up from 31.6 million Wednesday.The gain, which follows a 10% surge on Wednesday, reflects the kingdom’s efforts to engineer a successful start to trading after international investors balked at the price in the initial public offering. Saudi Arabia encouraged local individuals to purchase and hold the stock through cheap loans and a bonus-share plan, while pushing wealthy families and regional allies to buy as well.The offering consisted of only 1.5% of Aramco’s stock, so that investors who didn’t get allocated shares in the IPO had to buy in the secondary market.“We were expecting this IPO to be a blockbuster, and the performance in the past two days shows that was the case,” said Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial Consultancy LLC in Dubai, who has high-net-worth individuals from the Gulf among his clients. “From the appetite we see for the stock, there is room for it to climb another 10% to 18% next week.”Aramco raised $25.6 billion in the deal, selling shares at 32 riyals each and overtaking Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. as the most valuable listed company.The IPO has become synonymous with the crown prince and his efforts to reshape the economy of the world’s biggest oil exporter. But his insistence on the $2 trillion valuation deterred international investors, many of whom said the stock was too expensive given governance and geopolitical concerns.Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said after the first trading day that it’s already time to cash out. In a Bloomberg survey last month, global money managers put Aramco’s fair value at between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion.While hitting the target may vindicate Saudi officials, it could complicate any plans to sell part of Aramco’s shares abroad as originally envisaged by Prince Mohammed in 2016, when he said a dual listing could raise as much as $100 billion. Saudi officials met in recent weeks with international investors to sound them out on a possible listing of Aramco’s shares in Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.Still, the IPO -- touted as part of a blueprint for life after oil for the kingdom -- is a watershed moment for a business that’s bankrolled Saudi Arabia and its rulers for decades.The debut was cheered by Saudi and Gulf investors, who see the stock price supported by Aramco’s guaranteed dividends, buying by index-tracking funds and the fact that the region doesn’t have any other listed major oil companies.Read: The Wall Street Bankers Who Burst Aramco’s $2 Trillion BubbleAramco’s “$2 trillion valuation is justified due to secured dividend streams,” Arqaam Capital analysts including Rita Guindy and Jaap Meijer wrote in a report on Wednesday in which they initiated coverage with a buy recommendation and price target of 39.20 riyals.Arqaam expects a gradual increase of 2% annually in the dividend, potentially being topped up by a special payout of $20 billion in the next three years.(Updates with closing price in second paragraph.)\--With assistance from Paul Wallace.To contact the reporter on this story: Filipe Pacheco in Dubai at fpacheco4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Phil Serafino, Tom LavellFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
5G Set to Transform US Healthcare: 3 Stocks to Watch
Non-MedTech companies are ramping up investments in healthcare through 5G.
- Bloomberg
Apple Keeps Payments Tech for Itself and Europe Has Had Enough
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s digital wallet is expanding in Europe just as regulators crack down on the tech giant’s move into financial services.At issue is Apple’s role as a platform for other services. Spotify Technology SA already complained to antitrust regulators that Apple favors its own music service. Now banks and other payments providers say the company gives its Apple Pay service an unfair advantage by limiting access to a key component inside iPhones.“Access to technical interfaces is now a key competitive factor for payment systems,” Kerstin Altendorf, a spokeswoman for the Association of German Banks, said. “The same conditions should apply to all market participants.”The arguments leveled at Apple come as lawmakers and regulators look to curb the power of Silicon Valley technology platforms, including Google and Facebook Inc.European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager has begun scrutinizing Apple Pay, and antitrust regulators in the Netherlands and France are concerned, too. In Germany, a law that kicks in Jan. 1 could force Apple to open up its payments technology more for competitors.This is all bad timing for Apple, which is relying more on digital services like Apple Pay to generate growth. Its digital wallet is linked with 900 banks in Europe already and the company plans to work with another 1,500. How well that goes will partly depend on the fight for access to Apple Pay tech.Vestager’s officials have sought industry feedback on how iPhones may favor Apple Pay over other payment solutions. While that hasn’t triggered a formal probe yet, Vestager said she’s heard “many, many concerns” over the service and how that might hamper competition for easy payments.Bad blood between Vestager and Apple won’t help either. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook called one of Vestager’s decisions “political crap” when the EU ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes.And Vestager’s concerns about Apple Pay are echoed by other antitrust regulators in the region. France’s antitrust regulator has warned about new entrants to quickly gaining dominant positions, and the Dutch regulator in October launched a market study to analyze the impact of big tech firms on its payments market.Germany is on the front lines of this battle. A law, kicking in Jan. 1, requires operators of digital money infrastructure to open up access to competitors for a reasonable fee. While Apple isn’t mentioned in the law, the company may be most exposed because Apple Pay relies on the iPhone’s near-field communications chip for slick in-store payments.Wireless payments are powered by so-called NFC chips, that let thousands use their phones to pour through subway ticket gates in London and Tokyo. The component also handles the wireless signals that allow Apple Pay users to wave their phones at store terminals for instant charges to a credit or debit card. Banks want the same functionality for their own iPhone apps and complain that Apple won’t give them access to the chip.Germany could force Apple’s hand. The new law requires “non-discriminatory access to the technical infrastructure” said Altendorf, the spokeswoman for the German bank association. That’s a step in the right direction, she added.Apple has already had to make changes to Apple Pay in response to an antitrust complaint in Europe. Swiss mobile payment app Twint contacted regulators because Apple’s wallet app kept automatically launching when customers tried to use Twint’s QR-based app at payment terminals. Apple last December agreed to implement a technical solution, deactivating NFC when the Twint app is open to stop Apple Pay interfering with its competitor’s service.Apple says it restricts access to the iPhone’s NFC chip as part of a system that encrypts users’ card information. Allowing competing mobile payments apps to access the NFC chip decoupled from Apple’s added layer of security could increase the risk of fraud and other security breaches, it said.Apple believes “deeply in competition,” it said in a statement, and the company has tried to make the service “the kind of seamless and convenient payment and wallet system that our users want and expect.”Customers can also still use alternative mobile payment options on Apple devices where transactions are processed through black-and-white QR codes instead of NFC technology.Security concerns may scupper these QR-based alternatives, which are used by Twint, Payconiq International SA and other Apple Pay rivals.QR codes can be easily spoofed, according to James Moar, an analyst at Juniper Research. “I don’t really see that as viable competition to Apple Pay in Europe at this point,” he said.\--With assistance from Mark Gurman and Sarah Syed.To contact the reporters on this story: Natalia Drozdiak in Brussels at ndrozdiak1@bloomberg.net;Aoife White in Brussels at awhite62@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Alistair BarrFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Financial Times
Apple supplier Japan Display agrees to $829m cash injection
Japan Display has agreed to an injection of up to ¥90bn ($829m) from Ichigo Asset Management in a deal that would allow the cash-strapped company to continue supplying displays for Apple’s iPhone 11. Following a board meeting on Thursday, Japan Display said it would sign a deal with Ichigo if the few remaining members of the Taiwanese-Chinese consortium failed to provide an alternative package by the end of this month. The agreement came after months of uncertainty that also involved intense talks with Apple, which has agreed to make an equity investment of $200m in Japan Display, according to people involved in the deal.
- Bloomberg
Apple to Dodge $150-Per-IPhone Levy If Trump Delays Tariffs
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s most-important product, and the supply chain that underpins its success, may be about to avert a margin-crushing threat. At least for a while.A 20-month trade war between the U.S. and China came to a head this week as a key deadline looms. This Sunday, 15% tariffs are due to kick in on the iPhone. Chinese officials expect U.S. President Donald Trump to delay the import duties, granting Apple a temporary reprieve. But negotiations have been fraught with missed deadlines and surprise about-faces.“Like everyone else in technology, Apple is hoping the tariffs don’t go into effect,” said analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research.Even if the tariffs are delayed, the broader trade war has exposed a weakness at the heart of Apple’s business. The world’s largest technology company relies on suppliers and manufacturing partners that are mostly based in China. Apple can’t quickly move production to other countries, so it’s counted on a furious White House lobbying campaign this year, led by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, to protect its key products from tariffs.Apple already is paying 30% duties on the Apple Watch, AirPods headphones, iMac desktop computer and HomePod speaker -- and the company hasn’t raised prices to compensate.If the company takes a similar approach with its more-popular products, the impact will be larger. The iPhone, iPad and Mac generate almost three quarters of Apple’s annual revenue.Holding prices steady while swallowing additional tariffs would cut earnings per share by about 4% next year, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. The 15% hit would add about $150 to the price of each iPhone, he estimated.“Apple continues to be in the crossfire given its flagship iPhone manufacturing footprint in China,” Ives wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. Apple “more than any company out there has the most to lose if this tariff war does not see a truce.”If Apple raises iPhone prices, demand would shrink 6% to 8% next year, Ives estimated.The other option is tariff waivers. That has already worked for Apple’s Mac Pro, but the company had to pledge to have the pricey, niche computer assembled in the U.S. It’s also filed for relief on some iPhone parts, the Apple Watch, and the AirPods with less success.Wall Street is already assuming the tariffs will be either delayed or abandoned in favor of a “Phase 1” trade deal between the U.S. and China. Apple analysts forecast a relatively rosy holiday period and 2020 for the company. Apple shares have surged in recent weeks and keep hitting records.Still, the trade war is such an existential threat to Apple’s supply chain, that maintaining the status quo is considered a victory.“Avoiding tariffs would be a positive, but it would also be business as usual since prices wouldn’t need to be raised,” Cross said. “Nothing would change.”In October, Apple projected holiday quarter revenue between $85.5 billion and $89.5 billion, ahead of Wall Street expectations. On a recent conference call with analysts, Cook said he was “very positive in terms of how things are going, and that positive view is obviously factored in our guidance.”The Dec. 15 tariffs would hit Apple’s fiscal second-quarter results more, but analysts are still expecting sales to grow 7% to $62.2 billion in that period. For the company’s 2020 fiscal year, Wall Street sees revenue climbing 6% to more than $275 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.If Apple manages to avoid this next round of tariffs, Cook’s lobbying efforts will have paid off handsomely. The Apple CEO met frequently with Trump this year, and even took criticism for standing beside the president as he blasted the media and House speaker Nancy Pelosi at a Mac Pro assembly facility in Texas last month.“Cook has solid arguments to get the iPhone and other company products off the list of China-made goods slated for a 15% tariff,“ Bloomberg Intelligence analyst John Butler wrote in a note. “Apple can’t easily relocate its production facilities out of China, which took years to establish.”At the Texas event, Trump seemed swayed, saying the government would look into exempting Apple from the December tariffs.While the president has embraced tariffs, he conceded that these tools create winners and losers, and that Apple could be the loser. It isn’t fair for Apple to be taxed on iPhones built in China given that South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. wouldn’t have to pay the duties, Trump said.“We have to treat Apple on a somewhat similar basis as we treat Samsung,” Trump said.To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Gurman in Los Angeles at mgurman1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Molly SchuetzFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Paul Volcker: Remembering the Softer Side of an Inflation Warrior
(Bloomberg) -- Subscribe to Stephanomics on Apple PodcastsSubscribe to Stephanomics on Pocket CastsSubscribe to Stephanomics on SpotifyPaul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who died this week at age 92, was an imposing public figure—in height as well as stature.He was best known for his bold moves in the U.S. war against inflation, and for his dedication to public service. But there was more to the man, as Bloomberg Markets editor Christine Harper discovered as she worked with Volcker to co-write his 2018 memoir, “Keeping At It.”Harper joins host Stephanie Flanders to share her memories and observations of Volcker’s humor, hobbies and patience.Also this week, Stephanomics explores what’s ailing India, which this year lost its title as the world’s fastest-growing major economy.Moreover, any chance of regaining that crown looks like it’s slipping away, despite the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One reason: The gem and jewelry industry, which accounts for almost 7% of India’s economy, is suffering thanks to external forces like the U.S.-China trade war as well as a possible setback from the Indian government itself.Anirban Nag reports from Mumbai on the sector, while Flanders digs deeper into the Modi agenda with Bloomberg economist Abhishek Gupta.To contact the authors of this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.netStephanie Flanders in London at flanders@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Magnus Henriksson at mhenriksso10@bloomberg.net, David RovellaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Investing.com
Stocks - Apple, Lululemon Fall Premarket; Delta, GE Rise
Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Thursday, 12th December.
- Financial Times
The best new beauty products of 2019
Fangirls of Lipstick Queen will be familiar with Medieval, a sheer, universally flattering red. Like the rest of the FT style desk, I’m obsessed with Augustinus Bader face cream, and the body lotion is impressive too. Are Celine’s new fragrances the essence of ‘cool’?
- Financial Times
Welcome to the age of the avatar
The “soul extractor”, as the workers at A-fun Interactive call it, is a small white room. In the centre is a stool surrounded by a metal frame dotted with more than 40 digital cameras. I picked my way ...
- Zacks
Disney+ Passes 22 Million Downloads: Time to Ditch NFLX & Buy Disney Stock?
Disney+ downloads passed 22 million on mobile devices, the independently owned app-tracking company Apptopia announced Tuesday.
- Zacks
Apple (AAPL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Apple (AAPL) closed at $270.77, marking a +0.85% move from the previous day.
- Zacks
Buy Amazon (AMZN) Stock on the Dip Before a 2020 Rally?
Is now the time to buy Amazon stock on the dip heading into 2020 with AMZN stock down 6% in the last six months?
- Bloomberg
Facebook, Google Drop Out of Top 10 ‘Best Places to Work’ List
(Bloomberg) -- Big tech companies like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, long seen as some of the world’s most desirable workplaces offering countless perks and employee benefits, are losing some of their shine.The Silicon Valley companies dropped out of the Top 10 “best places to work” in the U.S., according to Glassdoor’s annual rankings released Tuesday. HubSpot Inc., a cloud-computing software company, grabbed the No. 1 ranking while tech firms DocuSign Inc. and Ultimate Software were three and eight, respectively.Facebook, which has been rated as the “best place to work” three times in the past 10 years, was ranked 23rd. It’s the social-media company’s lowest position since it first made the list in 2011 as the top-rated workplace. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, was ranked seventh last year.Google, voted “best place to work” in 2015 and a Top-10 finisher the previous eight years, came in at No. 11 on Glassdoor’s list. Apple Inc., once a consistent Top-25 finisher, was ranked 84th. Amazon Inc., which has never been known for a positive internal culture, failed to make the list for the 12th straight year.Microsoft Corp. was one of the lone big technology companies to jump in the rankings. The Redmond, Washington-based software company moved to No. 21 from 34 a year ago. A few technology companies made the list for the first time, including SurveyMonkey at No. 33, Dell Technologies Inc. at No. 67 and Slack Technologies Inc. at No. 69.Twenty companies on the list have their headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, more than any other metro area, Glassdoor said.The annual list ranks companies using employee reviews on areas such as compensation, benefits, culture and senior management. Many of the big tech companies, including Facebook and Google, have been criticized this year for a myriad of issues, and in some cases employees have publicly opposed executive decisions.At Google, employees have protested against the company on a number of topics, including the company’s “intimidation” tactics against worker organizers. The results of an internal employee poll at the internet search giant, reported by Bloomberg in February, showed that fewer employees were inspired by Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai’s vision than a year earlier. It also found fewer workers believe senior management could successfully lead the company into the future.At Facebook, which just like Google provides employees with perks including free meals, corporate transportation and laundry services, workers have pushed back internally against leadership on some policy issues, such as the decision not to fact-check political advertisements.(Updates with new tech entrants in the fifth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at kwagner71@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack, Molly SchuetzFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
3 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Right Now for 2020 on Chip Comeback
We found three semiconductor stocks with the help of our Zacks Stock Screener that investors might want to consider buying for 2020...
- Zacks
Bulls to Drive S&P 500 Higher in 2020: ETFs to Tap
The bullish trends in the S&P 500 index will likely continue heading into the New Year powered by the Fed's accommodative interest-rate policy and a resilient domestic economy.
- Zacks
Renewable Stocks in Focus on Decarbonization Urgency
In 2020, decarbonization will be an area of focus globally and benefit the alternative energy space. Here is all we need to know.
