
Apple reports Q3 results - danceparty
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/07/apple-reports-third-quarter-results/
======
tqi
Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Facebook, which combined are worth almost $5
trillion dollars[1] all releasing earnings on the same day seems crazy. From
what I could find, that is 14% (5T/35T) of the total stock market posting
earnings on the same day [2].

I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on what effect that has on the overall
market in terms of volatility? (I really have no good idea as to how any of
this works) Could we see other stocks dip/rise as money is reallocated?

[1] [https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/big-tech-including-apple-
and...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/big-tech-including-apple-and-facebook-
report-earnings-late-thursday-which-could-mean-a-crazy-market-day-on-
friday.html) [2] [https://siblisresearch.com/data/us-stock-market-
value/](https://siblisresearch.com/data/us-stock-market-value/)

~~~
cblconfederate
There is only so many trillions to be invested in stocks (because, where
else?), and they have already been invested. Stock markets have for so long
had a totally irrational relationship with day-to-day news, that they probably
won't move the needle much.

~~~
Wohlf
First and foremost, the stock market is not the economy. Second, stocks are
primarily traded on their expected future value, not current profits, hence
why companies like Tesla have a price to earnings ratio that is absurd.

~~~
puranjay
Tesla's stock price makes zero sense in any plausible scenario. I understand
the narrative, but unless Tesla becomes the only car company on the planet, it
can't be worth 10x Ford

~~~
NicoJuicy
Robin Hooders + solar energy + funds that buy Tesla after 4 x profit
profitable quarters + China + ...

Still doesn't explain the crazy valuation

------
ajzinsbwbs
Wow, iPad revenue up 31% YoY after being down ~10% in the last few quarters.
Similar numbers to a Q1 (holiday season). I guess it makes sense that the
tablet form factor is popular when so many people are indoors.

Also, services revenue grew YoY but it’s the first time it didn’t grow QoQ in
a long time, so it seems to have stagnated. Services include a lot of
recurring revenue so they should be consistently growing QoQ.

Wearables growth also slowed, this may be the other side of the coin when
people are indoors and don’t want to buy a watch for fitness tracking.

~~~
spideymans
>Wow, iPad revenue up 31% YoY after being down ~10% in the last few quarters.
Similar numbers to a Q1 (holiday season). I guess it makes sense that the
tablet form factor is popular when so many people are indoors.

I wonder how much this has to do with the release of iPadOS 13, which has made
the iPad a significantly more capable "computer" than previous versions of the
operating system. For the majority of users (you don't fall into this
category, fellow Hacker News reader), the capabilities of iPadOS are quickly
approaching that of macOS.

~~~
read_if_gay_
iPadOS 13, the new keyboard with trackpad and a cloud VPS mean even for
typical HNers the capabilities of iPadOS are quickly approaching that of
macOS. For me, it’s totally replaced my laptop. I still need a desktop because
a fair number of very specific things are a PITA on the iPad but in general it
offers a much nicer UX than my previous ThinkPad.

~~~
flatiron
I dunno man. I spend my life in the command line. I don’t think anything could
replace a Linux laptop right now for sheer flexibility and power.

~~~
shmoogy
With Blink you've got an amazing terminal that supports Mosh. Rarely use my
MacBook anymore.

------
scarface74
For people who like charts.

[https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/07/apple-q3-2020-results-
eve...](https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/07/apple-q3-2020-results-everything-
up/)

------
adtac
>The Board of Directors has also approved a four-for-one stock split to make
the stock more accessible to a broader base of investors. Each Apple
shareholder of record at the close of business on August 24, 2020 will receive
three additional shares for every share held on the record date, and trading
will begin on a split-adjusted basis on August 31, 2020.

~~~
crazygringo
So interesting that Apple does this around $400... meanwhile Amazon's over
$3,000 and couldn't care less.

It's very curious to me how and why different companies decide whether this is
important or not.

~~~
simonebrunozzi
Berkshire Hathaway is at almost $300k per stock.

~~~
fotta
Buffett refuses to split BRKA so yes it's that much, but BRKB has split before
and so is ~$200/share.

~~~
zzapplezz
Also consider the difference in voting rights. Voting rights at berkshire
require one to literally be rich. Funny that SNAP got shunned by S&P and
literally was the genesis for a new rule [1] for excluding new stocks with
split share classes yet BRK, GOOG, FB, CMCS, NWS, etc. can still exist in the
index. Heck, companies like F & BF have separate voting shares to give
families voting rights.

[1] [https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/01/snapchat-excluded-from-
sp-50...](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/01/snapchat-excluded-from-sp-500-what-
does-it-mean.html)

~~~
fotta
My understanding from that article is that SNAP's public shares are entirely
non-voting whereas all the other companies' shares have (diluted) voting
rights so I don't think it's quite the same even though in practice it pretty
much is.

~~~
zzapplezz
Thank you for pointing this out, I thought BRK.B had no voting rights. I
looked it up and learned that BRK.A shares have 6.66 the voting power of the
equivalent dollar amount of BRK.B shares. Specifically, each BRK.A share is
1,500x the economic value of BRK.B but 10,000x the voting power. [1]

It turns out that there are indeed share classes of these companies with no
voting rights (GOOG, class C) but I haven't found an example of a company that
doesn't have some voting shares in non-insider hands.

It's still shitty that the S&P indices barred SNAP while turning a blind eye
to the existing inequities. I'm perfectly okay with them barring new split
share listings but at least begin to apply it to others that benefit from the
lack of corporate governance.

[1]
[https://berkshirehathaway.com/compab.pdf#:~:text=Berkshire%2...](https://berkshirehathaway.com/compab.pdf#:~:text=Berkshire%20Hathaway%20Inc.%20has%20two%20classes%20of%20common,Class%20A%20share%20%28rather%20than%201%2F1%2C500thof%20the%20vote%29).

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matthewdgreen
Given the high rates of unemployment in the US and around the world (with
possibly worse to come) this kind of consumer spending on luxury goods is
pretty remarkable. Wonder how sustainable it is.

~~~
shmatt
Unemployed Americans have (temporarily) discovered the world of fare living-
wage unemployment that expires tomorrow.

If you don't live in NY or CA, those extra $600 a week can go very far, and
have probably helped stimulate the economy greatly

~~~
Jommi
What planet are we living on?

600 a week is 2400 a month, which way over any entry level salary in Europe.

How inflated are the salaries in US? Or are people used to some really
abnormal level of living?

~~~
nostrademons
Rent for a low-end 1BR in Silicon Valley is about $2000/month. Low-end 2BR =
~$2600/month, high-end 1BR = ~$4500/month. Houses are ~$10K/month and up.

Entry-level tech compensation is ~$180K/year, mid-career = ~$600K/year. If
you're not in tech you're screwed here - formerly middle-class professions
like teachers/police/firemen live 4 to a 2BR apartment, or they buy houses an
hour or more away. Even mid-career finance professionals get screwed - salary
for CEO of a local (not nationwide) bank is in the ~$150-200K range, and
barely competes with a new grad at Google or Facebook.

~~~
twblalock
> Houses are ~$10K/month and up.

That's way high. A million-dollar house on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage,
assuming a 20% down payment, is ~4800/month including property tax. With a 10%
down payment it would be about $5800/month.

To get to a $10k/month housing bill you need to buy a place that costs close
to $2 million. The median sales price in Santa Clara county is closer to $1.3
or $1.4 million. Most people are paying a lot less than $10k/month for their
house.

~~~
nostrademons
The median buyer in Santa Clara County buys a condo - that's what's going for
$1.3-1.4M.

Low-end SFHs - we're talking a 3/2 built in the 1950s - go for about
$1.8-$1.9M in Mountain View, $1.6-1.7M in Sunnyvale. A SFH like what you'd get
in most of the rest of the U.S. - 4/2.5 or 5/3 on 1/4 acre lot, built
somewhere between the 70s and 00s - will run about $2.4-2.8M.

~~~
twblalock
No, the median SFH sales price in Santa Clara county is ~1.4 million. I just
looked it up.
[https://scc.rereport.com/market_reports](https://scc.rereport.com/market_reports)

Mountain View is one of the most expensive cities in the county, second to
Palo Alto and maybe Los Altos. Most of the area is cheaper.

------
bitxbit
Anxiety induced shopping is a real thing. Leisure travel is another huge
wallet share that’s been nonexistent for several months now.

~~~
jjcon
Anecdotally that is totally the case for me - I’ve been spending money on lots
of tech and random fun items. Despite my purchases though my spending is
overall down because I’m not eating out, going on trips/vacations.

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JoshTko
Really unexpected that YOY revenue is up for Mac 22% and iPad 31%. Also
unexpected that service revenue growth seems to have slowed.

------
Steve886
iPhone sales moved up 2% from last year to $26.4 billion in the June-quarter.
Apple earnings infographic: [https://news.alphastreet.com/apple-inc-nasdaq-
aapl-earnings-...](https://news.alphastreet.com/apple-inc-nasdaq-aapl-
earnings-a-snapshot-of-q3-2020-results/)

------
KeBugCheckEx
When did Apple started distributing dividends? I remember them being known for
not doing so.

~~~
jjtheblunt
I believe around 2013 Apple altered its buyback and dividend practices, as
large shareholder Carl Icahn seemed at the time to be trying to manipulate the
company and shareholders to his own advantage.

Several articles discussed such around the time. Here are a few.

[https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-carl-
ic...](https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-carl-icahn-apple-
stake--20140122-story.html)

[https://www.marketwatch.com/story/carl-icahns-2-billion-
appl...](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/carl-icahns-2-billion-apple-stake-
was-a-prime-example-of-investment-inequality-2016-06-07)

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2017/11/10/carl-
icah...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2017/11/10/carl-icahn-sold-
apple-too-soon-it-cost-him-3-7b/#366f46d32cea)

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XcrossSaber
:( and here i am still waiting for Apple product to reduce its price, coz i
thought in pandemic, people will keep money for groceries, medical bill and
not electronic devices.

~~~
ragazzina
Their phones start at $399. Do you consider it too high?

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simonebrunozzi
Would you agree that the Tl;dr would simply be "unstoppable"?

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Kkoala
It's Q2 right? Or do they not use the calendar year for accounting?

~~~
xondono
They don’t use the calendar numbering, but I don’t really know why

~~~
OldHand2018
When you start a company, you choose a "tax year" by filing a tax return. From
then on out, you file your tax return the same month every year.

If it's a small business, you probably find it most convenient to have the tax
year be the calendar year and match up with your personal filing.

Many businesses have some concept of a "selling season" that makes it really
convenient to not use January through December. A retailer, for example,
probably prefers not to close their books on December 31 every year because of
all the post-Christmas gift returns. Walmart has a January fiscal year
(February 1 through Jan 31).

If you sold stuff to schools, you might choose a June fiscal year; most
universities use a June fiscal year so an entire school year stays in a single
fiscal year.

I have no idea why Apple chose September, but it was probably a rational
decision.

~~~
tricolon
Possibly related: new iOS and iPhone versions are released in mid-to-late
September.

~~~
ogre_codes
Apple's calendar year was set in stone about 30 years before the iPhone was
invented.

