By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
This update corrects the all-time high for Apple shares.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Apple Inc. got a bounce Friday as the company put its latest device, the iPhone 4S, on sale at retail stores in the United States and six other countries.
Reuters
In the day’s market action, Apple shares traded as high as $418.86; the stock set an all-time intraday high of $422.86 on Sept. 20, according to data from FactSet Research. The shares were last up about 2.3% to $417.91 in the early afternoon.
Also making gains during the day were the three U.S. wireless carriers that are offering the iPhone 4S. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) were up fractionally, while Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) rose nearly 4% to $2.88. This is the first time for Sprint to sell the iPhone for its network.
The iPhone has become Apple’s most important product line, accounting for about 45% of the company’s total revenue for the first nine months of its current fiscal year. While Apple doesn’t break down profitability per device, analysts estimate the iPhone delivers margins in the low- to mid-50% range — making it by far the most profitable product in its lineup.
Mossberg reviews the iPhone 4S
Facing increasing competition, Apple has released the iPhone 4S. Columnist Walt Mossberg finds a lot to like about it but says owners of the iPhone 4 may not need to upgrade.Investors initially registered disappointment with the new device, given that the iPhone 4S has the same external design as the iPhone 4, albeit with a faster chip, more powerful camera and new software capabilities — including the Siri personal digital assistant. Apple’s shares dipped following the introduction of the device.
In a note to clients Friday, Kevin Dede of Brigantine Advisors noted that positive reviews of the iPhone 4S, “in concert with record setting pre-orders (separately, bolstered by broader distribution, of course) leave us confident that today’s 4S release should be met with fanfare typical of new Apple products.”
Last year, the iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million units in its first three days of sale. The iPhone 4S may benefit from a wider distribution footprint in two additional countries compared with the previous phone, as well as the fact that Sprint has been added to the U.S. carrier base.
The iPhone 4S is now available in America, as well as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom; it’ll be in 22 other countries by the end of October.
Apple is set to report results for its fourth fiscal quarter on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The results will not include the iPhone 4S, which launched after the close of the period. Analysts currently expect Apple to ship between 25 million to 30 million iPhone models for the current period, results for which will be reported sometime in late January.