The September 2015 Apple Special Event is one of those events everyone has been waiting for. Investors, Apple customers, fans, and so on.  Many technology enthusiasts admire Apple’s continuous innovation. One of the most popular innovation was the launch of the iPod, replacing the bulky Sony Walkman’s. Apple Special Events tend to have an impact on the shares – as investors speculate the future of Apple.

2015 Apple Special Events & Stock Performance

There were three major events in 2015, occurring on March 9th, June 8th, and September 9th. During each event, there was an introduction of an Apple product/service.

March 9th Special Event

NASDAQ: AAPL

• Open: 127.96
• High: 129.57
• Low: 125.06
• Close: 127.14

Apple shares fell .64% from it’s opening price on the March 9th Special Event. During this event, Apple released the Apple Watch, and Brand new MacBook.

Apple Watch

• 18-hour battery life
• Two sizes: 38mm + 42mm
• 3 collections, Watch Sport, Watch, and Watch Edition

Source: Apple.com

MacBook

• Light notebook – weighting 2 pounds, 13.1mm thin
• Force Touch – allowing you to set custom actions for a force touch on your Mac (MacWorld)
• 12-inch retina display
• One compact USB-C port – for charging & data transfer
• Available in silver, space grey, and gold

Source: Apple.com

June 8th Special Event – WWDC

WWDC, also known as the Worldwide Developers Conference is hosted by Apple, in San Francisco, California. During this annual event, Apple introduced Apple Music – a service that provides access to the music on iTunes at a fixed fee per month.

NASDAQ: AAPL

• Open: 128.90
• High: 129.21
• Low: 126.83
• Close: 127.80

Apple shares closed .86% lower than it’s opening price.

Apple Music

• Priced at $9.99/month for single user, $14.99 for family plan (up to six people)
• Access to over 30 million songs on iTunes (Apple).

Is Spotify Done?

Spotify provides a similar service of listening to any song you want for a fixed priced. At the time Apple Music was introduced, Spotify’s family plan pricing was double the price – $29.99 for up to five people. Apple does have a huge advantage over Spotify as it has many resources, such as iTunes, and approximately $150 billion in cash reported during the Q3 Earnings Call.

Sept 9th Special Event

NASDAQ: AAPL

• Open: 112.40
• High: 113.08
• Low: 109.92
• Close: 110.15

Apple shares closed 2.04% lower than it’s opening price after the launch of the iPad Pro, and iPhone 6S.

2 major products were revealed on this day – the iPad Pro, and iPhone 6S. Apple also announced the new features for the Apple TV, such as the Apple TV App Store. Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook mentioned that the iPad is the “most capable and powerful iPad” Apple has ever created.

iPad Pro

• iPad Pro cost: $799 – $1070 (depending on the storage capacity)
• 9-inch screen
• Faster than 80% of computers, 10-hour battery life, according to Apple
• Business savvy – PowerPoint and other office features can be used

iPhone 6S

• Available colours: silver, gold, space grey, and rose
• Apple dropped gold models for older iPhone Models, 5S, 6, 6 Plus – Apple confirmed to to The Verge that the finish is being discontinued for those models (The Verge).
• Same screen sizes as iPhone 6
• New iSight 12 MP advanced pixel technology
• 3D Touch – “The next generation of multi-touch” according to Apple
• A9 chip – new level of performance and efficiency to iPhone 6s (Apple)

Apple

iPhone Upgrade Program

Apple made a smart move – and introduced the iPhone Upgrade Program.  This allows consumers to pay a fixed month fee and upgrade to a new iPhone every year, with monthly payments as low as $32.41 (The Verge). This would strengthen Apple’s consumer loyalty, and benefit the cash flows from operating activities.

Stock performance

NASDAQ: AAPL

Source: Google Finance

Year to date, Apple’s stock performance has been flat. From January 02 – September 09, the stock has gone down 0.21%. However, this outperforms the performance of the Dow, which has gone down -7.74% from January 02 – September 09.

Apple shares had a decent performance throughout the first half of the year – reaching a high of 133.00. Apple stocks tumbled as much as 8% after the Q3 Earnings Call, despite strong profit and revenue growth. This was a result of Apple missing investor expectations by 3% for iPhone sales.

Analysis

It seems as if every event that occurred in 2015 did not impress Apple investors. Even during the Q3 Earnings Call, when Apple announced strong profit and revenue growth, many investors decided to sell their Apple shares – leading to a drop of 8%.

When Google announced their Q3 Earnings Call, and the introduction of Alphabet Inc., the shares surged well over 5% on both occasions. Apple seems to be having no luck from investors this year when it comes to the Special Events and Earnings Calls.

Even with the launch of the first generation iPod Touch, investors did not seem to overly impressed – as seen in the performance of the Apple shares during the September 7th, 2007 Special Event.

September 7th, 2007

NASDAQ: AAPL

• Open: 132.01
• High: 132.30
• Low: 130.00
• Close: 131.77
• *Adjusted Close: 17.60

Apple shares closed .18% lower than the opening price after the September 7th, 2007 Special Event.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Conclusion

From an investor’s perspective, Apple Special Events do have an impact on Apple shares. However, the Special Events that occurred in 2015, the shares went down approximately 1%. It can be stated that the Special Events have a long term impact on the growth of the Apple shares – as they introduce new products being sold.

The Q3 Earnings Call affected the Apple shares – Apple shares dropped as much as 8% when Apple failed to meet investor’s expectations for iPhone sales.

Historically, the Earnings Call after the Christmas season (Q1) have the highest sales out of the 4 quarters (Apple). If this trend continues, this would have the largest impact on the Apple shares. If investor expectations are met, this can potentially lead the Apple shares to have a decent performance compared to the other Quarterly Earnings Call dates.

Apple continues to be a company with great fundamentals, such as high cash balance, growing revenue and profits. With it’s new products in place, the iPhone 6S, and iPad Pro, Apple has a lot to offer to the customers during the upcoming Christmas season. The past few special events did not have a huge impact on the Apple Shares, however, the Q1 Earnings does have the potential to benefit the Apple shares, if investor’s expectations are met.

Stocks Mentioned: AAPL

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Writer: Jelani Smith

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