While my colleague Joseph Lazzaro noted earlier that continuing jobless claims are at a jaw-dropping 25-year high, we certainly can't blame the gadget-masters at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for this weakness in the job market. According to an SEC filing on Wednesday, the tech-sector heavyweight ramped up its payroll by 48% in fiscal 2008.
The Cupertino, California-based company reported 32,000 full-time and 3,100 temporary and contract employees as of September 27. That's up from 21,600 full-time workers and 2,100 temporary or contract staffers in fiscal 2007. Of those new hires, it seems that 8,000 went to work at Apple's retail outlets -- 50 new Apple stores were opened during the course of fiscal 2008.
In its first full quarter on the market, Apple reported that it sold 6.9 million iPhone 3Gs. However, it seems unlikely that sales of the smartphone will be so impressive in the future. Analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. have already warned that their checks indicate a significant slip in iPhone production, and that sentiment was echoed Wednesday by UBS. Analyst Maynard Um warned that "recent data points may suggest unit volumes weaker than our current estimate of 5 million" for the December quarter. The production slip could reduce Apple's earnings per share by 5 cents.
At last check, AAPL is down about 3% to hover near the century mark.
Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-06-2008 @ 3:00PM
Beltway Greg said...
Concerns? The IPhone rated number #1 by business users and the Storm is rumored to be delayed? (#1 music retailer in the world.) And based on his past miscues FBR's Craig Berger is hardly the Deep Throat of tech reportage. A stopped clock is correct at least twice a day which is a much higher percentage than Berger has achieved in regard to Apple. Apple will sell at least 14 million IPhones this year. Concerns?
Beltway Greg
11-06-2008 @ 4:11PM
iphonerulez said...
Yup, Apple will continue to open stores and continue hiring throughout the recession. That says a lot about a company's financial strength.
Unfortunately WS doesn't see it that way. They'll just look at Apple and say that it's wasting money by keeping people working while it's revenue dwindles (if it's revenues do dwindle). This is the American attitude that favors companies laying off workers just when they need jobs the most. The analysts think that incoming revenue is most important instead of a company trying to keep things running smoothly in desperate times.
Apple will be nicely rewarded with much lower share prices and will be tossed faster to the bottom of the tech heap due to it's irrational way of thinking. Analysts are only interested in short-term profits. Fire everyone to keep operating costs low as possible regardless of the outcome.
11-11-2008 @ 1:37PM
Frank Marra said...
I just can't believe how many so called internet "reporters" can get so much mileage out of what one knucklehead analyst says... FBR has such a lousy track record and these "Reporters" are so fast to take what they say as gospel.
I guess that we just don't worry about own reputation and good name anymore...
So sad......