Apple’s share value has smashed through the $300 barrier for the first time a week ahead of the company launching a new operating system.
On Wall Street last night the share traded at US $301.20 as the Australian dollar reached $0.99.28 to the US dollar. Apple is expected to report record sales of the iPads and iPhones early next week.
According to the Wall Street Journal the stock is up 43% for the year and 30 times its price seven years ago, on a split-adjusted basis.
Analysts expect the company to report quarterly sales of nearly $19 billion and earnings of $4.05 a share, excluding items, in the September ended quarter. A year ago, it had revenue of $9.87 billion and a profit of $1.82 a share.
The quarter’s results will be the second to include sales of the iPad tablet, which the company released in April. Apple sold more than 3 million of the devices in its first quarter of availability, but rivals are preparing competing devices for the holidays and beyond.
The popularity of Apple’s iPhone 4 also will be examined Monday as the device’s sales are expected to continue accelerating despite complaints about the device’s cellular reception due to a new antenna design. Apple apologized for the misstep, and offered free cases to customers until Sept. 30.
Apple’s success over the past decade has been built on unveiling consumer electronics that helped to redefine how users consume media and communicate with each other, first with the iPod music player in the early 2000s, then with the iPhone and now with the iPad.
For the fiscal year ended in 2003, Apple reported earnings of $1.7 billion on sales of $6.2 billion. On Monday, Apple is expected to report earnings for the fiscal year ended in September of $13.4 billion on sales of $63.7 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.
