Man, my iPhone has been ringing off the hook all morning. Now I know people don't listen to the conference calls! Let me sum it up for you: New products coming. This will of course require changes at the factories, etc.
Today Steve released the news that the iTunes Store just crossed the three billion mark in tune downloads. They crossed two billion in January, and 2.5 billion at the end of April. Forrester, is that a hockey stick or are you n00bs just happy to see me?
"We believe investors should focus on Apple being in the process of creating another version of the 'multiplier effect,' which we call 'Halo 2,'" Reitzes said. "We believe the build up to the launch of the iPhone and its ongoing excitement is driving sales of accessories, boosting retail traffic, and helping drive sales of iPods and especially Macs."
It all started on July 20th when this obscure blogger dude decides to attach himself firmly to my coattails. No one, and I mean no one has heard of this guy, so he decides to stir things up by questioning the way we release our research at PJ.
New iMac rumblings are getting awfully loud.
The Dow drops over 3 hundo and aapl hits an all time high.
Shawn called me yesterday and asked if I would come on the Your Mac Life Show. He said he was having Pete Cohen on and he wanted me to come on afterwards and "hit it out of the park."
For those of you phoning in your upgrades, you can have my $205, I'm going to $211.
So I'm looking over our channel checks, and I figure Apple is really close to already having sold iPhone number one million. Really really close. Steve must have been ticked that it wasn't in the can for yesterday.
OK, here's how I rate these ratings....
| Source | Date | Rating | Target Price | My Rating |
| Soleil Securities Group | 7/16/07 | Buy | $175 | Coaster |
| Am. Tech. Research | 7/2/07 | Buy | $165 | Phoner |
| RBC Capital Markets | 7/24/07 | Outperform | $160 | Phoner |
| UBS | 6/12/07 | Buy | $160 | Chump |
| Bear Stearns | 7/12/07 | Outperform | $143 | Chump |
| Credit Suisse | 7/2/07 | Outperform | $140 | Chump |
| JMP Securities | 7/23/07 | Mkt Outperform | $125 | n00b |
| WR Hambrecht + Co | 5/30/07 | Buy | $125 | n00b |
| Prudential Financial | 5/25/07 | Overweight | $125 | n00b |
| Bernstein Research | 5/21/07 | Market Perform | $100 | Ultra n00b |
Yep. That's what happened today. Papa Peter's guidance was so absurd we're officially not paying attention to it. A bunch of us were texting each other during the CC and agreed. Basically we're insulted.
Not too happy with the way Tim and Peter treated me during the call either. Basically gave me squat. Who took a stand for you dudes last week? Where's the love?
Later.
Steve may be the king of Apple, but four times a year someone gets to be King for a Day.
As far as Wall Street is concerned, Papa Peter is the man this afternoon. He is the master of UPOD (under promise, over deliver), and we analysts are used to his shtick. The question on everyone's mind is how close he'll be to our collective guidance for next quarter. Just a little advice Peter... don't go under it. Make life easier for all of us.
Well anyway Peter, get your crown ready, today's your day. I'm getting my questions prepared this morning, and they're gonna have the usual mix of "praise and probe" as I like to say.
Check me out on the CC everyone!
"Our next question comes from Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray....."
Had to eat a little crow this morning. And not because I was wrong about the weekend sales. AT&T had a huge bottleneck in their activations. Took them DAYS to get it sorted out. But you can't claim what you didn't activate, so their number flat out sucks for close of business on the 30th.
Now of course I have to go on cnbc and explain this crap. Easier to say AT&T's news was disappointing than get into the specifics. Pete will give the real number tomorrow... well, sort of. He's not going to give the entire weekend... just the 29th and 30th.
But enough about me. If some of you investors out there were looking for a chance to add, you may have just gotten it.
Downgrade to hold from buy based on valuation
We believe Apple's fundamentals remain strong on market-share gains in desktops and laptops, success with digital-media players and software, and notable inroads in the smartphone category. Based largely on these successes, we believe Apple should trade at a greater premium to the p-e-to-growth rate of the S&P 500 Technology Sector, and we are raising our 12-month target price to $155 from $135. However, we think our downgrade is warranted by risk-reward considerations, especially with expectations high and Apple scheduled to report June-quarter results on Wednesday.
So Netflix is getting slammed today because they've lowered rates and we've pointed out that current estimates are high.
So my buddy Shawn emails me to let me know that this character is accusing me of stock manipulation.
M a n i p u l a t i o n.
“While we continue to like Apple’s long-term growth opportunity, we see little more than market returns in the shares from current levels,” he writes. “We would be buyers on a pull back to around $90 and believe that summer seasonality, less favorable component pricing and lack of news during the next several months may provide such an opportunity.”
Gardner actually raised his price target on the stock today to $110, from $105.
Ant & Sons submits: Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has stuck his neck out quite a few times when it comes to making predictions on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). He made a big call in 2004 and was the first on the Street to say that Apple could move to $100 per share on strong iPod sales. And now he's doing it again.
So last night I'm getting emails about Cramer saying "sell aapl." I don't watch Cramer but Judy from my office records it so I gave her a call. She said that Cramer advised "taking a little off the table" before earnings on the 25th. Well, that's not a sell it's just trading around a core position, says Judy. OK, so why all the fuss?
Well friends, I hope you're pleased with today's little bombshell. I gave the n00b analysts every opportunity to upgrade after the iPhone launch, but enough is enough. So game on kiddies, I'm on record as the first guy over two hundo (I put the extra five bucks on there just for that purpose). The rest will wait until after earnings, but I don't need a CC to know where Apple is headed.
