Can Apple Recover From Stock Crash?
posted Saturday Mar 2, 2013 by Scott Ertz
We all remember the news from last year: Apple had become the most over-valued stock on the market. With a stock price of $705.07, it was clear that Apple had the market covering its back, but for how long? Ever since the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO before his death and the decision to appoint Tim Cook to the role, the belief was it would happen sooner than later.
With its market share shifting to Samsung, issues with handset quality, camera color and map accuracy issues, it has been clearer that the valley was coming. Over the past few weeks, we have seen it come to fruition. From its peak to this week's new low of $430.21, the company's stock has dropped a whopping 40% in just 2 quarters.
For those who are not intimately familiar with the way stock process work, they show investor confidence in a company and its products or services. A 40% drop in price indicates a massive shift away from confidence in Apple's management to maintain the relevance of their product line. I tend to agree with the market's analysis. Steve Jobs was the reason the company had the success it had; without him, people seem to not care.
There is a saying within the industry: every time Tim Cook speaks, Apple's stock drops. That is a lot different from the days where any time Jobs spoke, the stock would go through the roof. Product announcements are no longer spectacles that are talked about for week afterwards, product launches are no longer covered live by the press; those spots seem to have been taken over by Samsung and Microsoft. The Galaxy Note 8 has had a bigger reception in the press than the iPad Mini did; The Surface RT and Surface Pro have had more coverage than the recent version of the iPad.
Unless Apple can do something amazing and announce it in a way that isn't boring, Samsung, Google and Microsoft will have the opportunity to end the run of Apple. If I were a stockholder, which I am not, I would be demanding Tim Cook's resignation - like Groupon - tomorrow with the hopes that someone with the passion of Steve Jobs could take the reigns and bring back the excitement of the company.
