The market can be a cruel master.
Apple (AAPL 1.20%) took a hit after posting disappointing quarterly results on Monday afternoon, as investors aren't buying into the silver linings in the report. Apple beat Wall Street's profit target, but that was the handiwork of aggressive share buybacks that are masking flat net income growth. Moreover, while the company saw double-digit growth in its Mac category, a slump to single-digit growth in iPhone and iPad sales is more problematic.
Apple did sell a record 51 million iPhones, but that wasn't enough to impress the market, which had been bidding up the stock in anticipation of more than just a 7% increase in iPhone unit sales. The smartphone market is growing a lot faster than that, so investors are worried that the company will lose relevance if its market share slips.
Then again, Apple did point out that new products are coming later this year. Can innovation help the company work its way out of its rut? Innovation is the one silver lining that's hard to criticize.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Google (GOOG 0.73%) declared the equivalent of a 2-for-1 stock split, but the additional shares are being paid out with a non-voting class. It seems as if trading in quadruple digits finally got the search giant to go through with a split.
- SodaStream (SODA +0.00%) struck a deal with grape-farming co-op Welch's to jointly develop a line of grape syrups for SodaStream's beverage maker. As an aside, SodaStream's banned Super Bowl ad was uploaded to YouTube, where it was up to 7.5 million video views as of Friday night.
- Amazon.com (AMZN 2.41%) tumbled after posting lower-than-expected sales during its holiday quarter, but it's also making things interesting by suggesting that it may raise its price for Amazon Prime memberships.
