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How Deep Is the Ocean, How High Is the Sky? Apple Stock's Wild Ride After Huge Quarterly Earnings Report.

April 21, 2010 at 12:24 am PT

After Apple turned in stellar second-quarter earnings yesterday, its shares surged above $260 in after-hours trading and then fell back down to close at $244.59.

What’s next is anyone’s guess, including Wall Street’s.

So it will be interesting to see where the stock opens today, especially as there seem to be more innovations en route from Apple (AAPL), as suggested by the unscrupulously obtained news about a handsome new iPhone coming soon.

In any case, the computer giant continues to flirt with the possibility of reaching the market cap of Microsoft (MSFT). Apple’s valuation is now at $222 billion, while Microsoft is at $275 billion.

Until this happens or doesn’t, let’s enjoy a video of the incomparable Billie Holiday singing, “How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky)”:

Tagged with: after-hours trading, Apple, Billie Holiday, BoomTown, digital, earnings, entertainment, financial, How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky), Internet, iPhone, Kara Swisher, Microsoft, music, second quarter, shares, stock, valuation, video, Wall Street

comments so far. Add yours.

Anonymous

On days when AAPL’s share price swings through a large range, the last trade of the after-hours is often not reflective of the ending price. Yesterday was a perfect example.

Kara, you should be aware of this phenomenon because it disrupts the rather tenuous connections between various concepts in your article.

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcont.....type=after
Anonymous

The last trade is just a delayed trade from earlier in the day, it happens often. One may check NASDAQ’s website to see that last trade is at 20:01, which is after the close (of after-hours trading) :
http://quotes.nasdaq.com/aspxc.....0&y=0
JosephKr

The articles is correct in its assumptions, but in fact the stock did not settle back in the extended session. It ended around the $259 mark according to CNBC's extended hours quotes.
http://allthingsd.com/boomtown Kara Swisher

not according to all after-hours trading info I have.
jetblackmgx

Kara-

I am going to have to agree with JosephKr. Apple ended at around the $257-259 mark….the $244 figure you have is likely the common phenomenon known as a “late cross”. Late crosses are fairly common on busy trading days, and they are no more than trades earlier in the day that aren't recorded until the end. Marketwatch provides a great chart that shows the after hours trading patterns.
jetblackmgx

Kara-

I am going to have to agree with JosephKr. Apple ended at around the $257-259 mark….the $244 figure you have is likely the common phenomenon known as a “late cross”. Late crosses are fairly common on busy trading days, and they are no more than trades earlier in the day that aren't recorded until the end. Marketwatch provides a great chart that shows the after hours trading patterns.
jetblackmgx

Kara-

I am going to have to agree with JosephKr. Apple ended at around the $257-259 mark….the $244 figure you have is likely the common phenomenon known as a “late cross”. Late crosses are fairly common on busy trading days, and they are no more than trades earlier in the day that aren't recorded until the end. Marketwatch provides a great chart that shows the after hours trading patterns.
philblack

Thanks for the great insight Kara. Up-Down-Up, this stock is like a rollercoaster ride, but at least with you holding our hand we can make some sense of it all. Keep up the good work.
philblack

I have to update after reading a little more about these “late cross” trades, and thank the previous posters for passing on their knowledge and understanding. As always, the information is out there, I'd simply never had the motivation to go looking for it. I'm sure Kara would agree, it's great to keep on learning.