Apple Short Interest Dips 3%
The short interest in Apple stock fell more than 3% ahead of its troubled earnings, but it is still one of the most shorted stocks on the Nasadaq.
The short interest in Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock fell 3.2% ahead of its troubled earnings to 66 million shares. That was for the period that ended January 15, and it put Apple in the number eight spot among all Nasdaq-traded companies.
The size of the short interest change is small in light of Apple’s recent earnings report, which showed a flattening of iPhone sales and only modest improvement in revenue:
Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2016 first quarter ended December 26, 2015. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $75.9 billion and record quarterly net income of $18.4 billion, or $3.28 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $74.6 billion and net income of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.1 percent compared to 39.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
iPhone sales were 74.8 million, just below an anticipated 75 million.
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And Apple’s forecast was well under what was expected:
Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2016 second quarter:
- revenue between $50 billion and $53 billion
- gross margin between 39 percent and 39.5 percent
- operating expenses between $6 billion and $6.1 billion
- other income/(expense) of $325 million
- tax rate of 25.5 percent
Investors short Apple’s stock have benefited from its share price, which is off 22% over the past three months to $93.42 and fell 6.6% in trading the day after its earnings.
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