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Apple Inc.

5/22/2013, 8:02 AM ET

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Tuesday, May 21, 6:01 PM Apple (AAPL) roundup: 1) iOS 7 will reportedly feature integration with additional online services, including Flickr (YHOO) and video site Vimeo. Yesterday, Yahoo announced a big overhaul for Flickr. 2) Peter Misek remains downbeat, predicting Apple's gross margin will be pressured by its use of OGS touch sensor tech in the iPhone 6 (differs from the iPhone 5's in-cell tech), and by app processor price hikes from Samsung (checks indicate 25%-50% hikes). 3) As Senate hearings dominate headlines, EU leaders are looking to end the tax shelters Apple and other tech companies have created. 4) BrandZ again ranks Apple the world's most valuable brand; it's followed by Google IBM, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola. (Apple/Yahoo report) 12 Comments [Tech]
Tuesday, May 21, 11:52 AM Tim Cook (AAPL) testifies at a Senate hearing on corporate offshore taxes. "We don't depend on tax gimmicks," Cook asserts, while pushing for a big overhaul of U.S. corporate tax code. "Apple has always believed in the simple, not the complex." Sen. John McCain isn't satisfied with Apple's defenses, claiming the company "has violated the spirit of the law if not the letter of the law." Sen. Rand Paul has strongly defended Apple. "Congress should be on trial here for creating a byzantine tax code." (previous) 35 Comments [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 7:07 PM Loopholes allowed Apple (AAPL) to avoid $44B in U.S. taxes from 2009-2012, claims a Senate report released shortly after Apple's official statement. Though peers have also been accused of using offshore havens, the report argues Apple went further by creating a subsidiary (responsible for ~1/3 of profits from 2009-11) that used differences in U.S. and Irish law to have no residence whatsoever. Sen. Carl Levin calls this "the Holy Grail of tax avoidance." Also, while Apple claims $6B in FY12 federal tax payments, the report claims the real number is $2.4B if one backs out deferred payments on foreign cash (only paid if/when the cash is repatriated). 65 Comments [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 4:03 PM Apple (AAPL) releases Tim Cook's official statement (.pdf) to the Senate ahead of his Tuesday appearance at a hearing on corporate tax payments. Among other things, Apple claims it paid ~$6B in federal taxes in FY12 and a 30.5% effective federal tax rate, and that its foreign units don't engage in the practices the hearing focuses on (the shifting of IP to offshore havens, revolving loans from subsidiaries, etc). The company proposes a tax system that's "revenue neutral, eliminates all tax expenditures, lowers tax rates and implements a reasonable tax on foreign earnings." (previous) 44 Comments [Tech]
Monday, May 20, 2:03 PM Apple (AAPL +1.9%) roundup: 1) Brian White cites Chinese 3G growth as a reason for his $888 PT: he points out China's 3G sub base rose 83% Y/Y in April to 293.1M, and is expected to hit 375M-400M by year's end. China Mobile (CHL - previous) had 120M 3G subs; China Unicom (CHU) had 92M, and China Telecom (CHA) 81M. 2) Taiwan's Economic Times reports Apple is testing 1.5" OLED displays for an iWatch, and that "market rumors" indicate Foxconn has received iWatch trial production orders. 3) Digitimes reports MacBook orders are expected to grow 20% Q/Q in Q2, as Apple launches new systems sporting Intel Haswell CPUs at June's WWDC conference. 17 Comments [Tech]
Saturday, May 18, 6:23 PM 32% of Q1 U.S. smartphone sales involved prepaid phones, up from 21% a year ago, says NPD. That trend could spell trouble for AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD), whose recent growth has been heavily tied to selling costly postpaid data plans. With 72% and 61% of the carriers' postpaid bases now respectively on smartphones, they face pressure to gain prepaid buyers without cannibalizing postpaid subs. Cannibalization fears have led AT&T and Verizon to make their prepaid plans 3G-only; Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) offer 4G. A mix shift towards unsubsidized prepaid phones could also be a challenge for Apple (AAPL), estimated to have just 8% of the Q1 U.S. prepaid smartphone market (though that's up 4x Y/Y). 16 Comments [Tech]
Saturday, May 18, 11:57 AM "There are only four sources of high-quality maps," Google, Waze, Navteq, and TomTom (TMOAF.PK), says Rolfe Winkler, and given Facebook's rumored $1B acquisition of Waze, TomTom may become an attractive takeover target for the likes of Apple (AAPL) and others who, while able to drive a hard bargain on map licensing fees, may prefer to bid for the Netherlands-based company rather than worry that a rival will acquire it. TomTom trades at an EV/EBITDA ratio of just 6x. (From December: Rabobank puts AAPL/TomTom odds at 30%) 32 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Friday, May 17, 4:34 PM iRadio (AAPL) is "still bogged down in licensing talks," music industry sources tell The Verge's Greg Sandoval. In addition to Sony (already reported to have rejected Apple's licensing terms), BMG is said to be holding out for a better deal; one has reportedly been signed with Universal. Apple's interest in offering on-demand options not found on Pandora (P) and other Web radio services has reportedly complicated talks. Past reports stated Apple is aiming for a summer launch. 14 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 6:50 PM Apple (AAPL) roundup: 1) Tim Cook is set to testify before Congress during a hearing about corporate offshore cash. He's defending Apple in advance, and says the company will offer tax reform proposals. 2) Though a number of big hedge funds pared or unwound their Apple positions in Q1, the number of "top-tier" funds with positions held steady at 148, per Insider Monkey's analysis. 3) A couple of intriguing Apple patent applications: one for an iPhone-based e-wallet with transaction-specific "smart menus," and one for a large-display touch sensor panel meant to improve response times. 19 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, May 15, 6:08 PM App store downloads have topped 50B, Apple (AAPL) boasts. The announcement comes 14 months after downloads hit 25B. Google announced earlier today Play downloads have passed 48B and totaled 2.5B last month. ABI estimated in March Apple's 2013 App Store revenue (exc. payouts) would be near $4.9B. Also: Susquehanna has started coverage with a Hold and $480 PT: the firm thinks a bigger iPhone is crucial (it doesn't expect one at least until Q1 2014), and worries iPad sales could miss consensus. (earlier) 18 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, May 15, 5:53 PM David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital took a 4.9% stake in Oil States International (OIS), a company he declared a target for shareholder activism target last week; Greenlight now ranks as the no. 5 shareholder in OIS. The fund also boosted stakes in Apple (AAPL) to ~2.4M shares from 1.3M (earlier) and Marvell Technology (MRVL) to 51.8M shares, more than 10% of shares out. New stakes: HES, SPR, GMCR, IACI. 8 Comments [Energy, Tech]
Wednesday, May 15, 3:40 PM More from Gundlach: Not concerned about inflation, he calls TIPS (TIP) "pretty bad" investments and says he'll be a buyer if the 10-year (TLT) yield bounces back to 2% (off 3 bps today to 1.94%). As for the inevitable Apple (AAPL -3.3%) question - he prefers the common stock to the just-issued bonds. Warren Buffett says he prays for stocks he owns to go down in price - it allows him and company repurchase programs to buy at better prices. Is Apple putting money to work the last couple of days? 15 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, May 15, 2:50 PM Apple (AAPL -4.2%) roundup: Tiger Global joined the unrelated Tiger Management in selling Apple shares in Q1, lowering its stake to 260K shares from a prior 1.05M (13F). 2) According to the iRumor mill's latest updates, the retina iPad Mini will have the same resolution (2048x1536) and processor (A6X) as the retina 4th-gen iPad; the iPhone 5S will replace the tradition home button with a touch-sensitive sapphire button (a positive for GTAT); and the iPhone 5S will have an improved camera to go with a fingerprint sensor. 3) The DOJ accuses Apple of being the ring-master in an e-book price-fixing scheme (previous); Apple calls the accusation "absurd." 4) Joe Weisenthal observes Apple's price movements have correlated some with gold's. 21 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 15, 9:30 AM Julian Robertson's Tiger Management unloaded the 42K Apple (AAPL) shares the firm still had going into Q1. Tiger, which has owned Apple for years, had pared its stake from 101K in Q4. On the other hand, Tiger initiated positions in Dunkin' Brands (DNKN - 546K shares), Monsanto (MON - 192K), McGraw Hill (MHP - 408K), and H&R Block (HRB - 849K). AAPL -1.1%. (13F) (Q4 hedge fund sales) 26 Comments [Tech]
Tuesday, May 14, 2:36 PM Apple (AAPL -2.5%) has dived over the last 30 minutes of trading on heavy volume, without any news to explain the move. The decline comes with the NASDAQ still up 0.5% on the day. 74 Comments [Tech, On the Move, Breaking News]
Tuesday, May 14, 8:22 AM More Tepper: Turning to individual ideas, he says Citigroup (C) has become one of his biggest positions. On Apple (AAPL): If the company doesn't have something "revolutionary" coming, it better do something "evolutionary" - bigger screen, cheap iPhone. If we don't see anything by September, then it's "Houston we got a problem," and Tepper hopes he's quicker on the sell button than everybody else. 7 Comments [Quick Ideas]

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