San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Henry Norr says that Apple is one of the first high-tech companies to recover after the “severe slump” that hit the industry last fall. In Deft Strategy: Apple’s Steve Jobs is pulling the company back from the brink again, Norr says that Apple is turning itself around without waiting for the rest of the industry to recover, and doing it without massive layoffs or cutbacks.
Norr documents Apple’s precipitous slide in stock value last year, as sales dropped and inventory ballooned to dramatic proportions, at least for Apple.
“Since the beginning of this year, however, Apple’s outlook has steadily brightened, even as other high-tech players continue to slip or, at best, debate whether they might have hit bottom,” said Norr.
And that improvement is slowly but surely showing in Apple’s position on Wall Street, too. Although well off last year’s high, Apple’s stock is up almost 70 percent for the year, Norr noted, closing at $25.75 on Friday.
Apple’s stock price upswing isn’t unique, said Norr. But while other tech stocks have rebounded, unlike many of those other companies, Apple can point to achievements to justify its position — a US$40 million net profit; exercising fiscal discipline; and other contributing factors.
Norr also points towards Apple’s new products as helping to contribute to a strong bottom line: Faster Power Mac G4s, especially the SuperDrive-equipped model; the new iBook, unveiled just last week; and Mac OS X. He also thinks that Apple’s renewed focus on education and its alleged retail store initiative could be very important to its future, too.
For more details please read the complete article, online at SFGate.com.