Apple Stock

Trading volume picked up a bit last Wednesday, perhaps in reaction to the good news that was divulged when Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced its third quarter earnings last Tuesday via a conference call with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri. Shares finished last week at $97.67 (after opening the week at $94.99) and, as of this writing, are at a 52 week high of $98.88.

Once again, the quarterly numbers were up year-over-year. The company posted a revenue of $37.4 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.7 billion, up from $35.3 billion and $6.9 billion in the year ago quarter. Much of the success was due to iPhone sales, which broke a third quarter record, despite falling off from the second quarter. iPhone sales in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) were up 55%

Along with announcing its 3Q FY 2014 earnings, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) yesterday filed several forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission, one of which shows a large year-over-year increase in the company's research and development expenditure.

Apple's 10-Q form, filed yesterday with the SEC, discloses most of the company's financial information for the third quarter. Under operating expenses lies "Research and development," and it shows that Apple spent $1.603 billion in the June quarter, compared to $1.178 billion during the year ago quarter. The $425 million difference represents a whopping 36% year-over-year increase. The report also shows that

On Tuesday, after the market closed, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced its fiscal 2014 third quarter results in a conference call with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri. Once again, the numbers were positive.

For the quarter ended June 28, 2014, Apple posted a revenue of $37.4 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share. Those numbers in the year ago quarter were $35.3 billion, $6.9 billion, and $1.07 respectively. Gross margin was 39.4 percent compared to 36.9 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed at $94.43 with a volume of just under 50 million shares, which is about average in recent weeks. As of this writing, AAPL is trading at $94.66, which doesn't seem too exciting considering the company is widely expected to post strong numbers when it releases its Q3 earnings after today's closing bell. The iPhone largely drove sales in the first half of 2014 and, according to Bidness Etc., third quarter sales will be strong as well, with analysts expecting 35.88 million units sold (UPDATE: Q3 earnings report is in). This will miss second quarter sales of 43.72 million units, but it was expected that customers would hold off buying new iPhones this quarter, with the iPhone 6 launch just around the corner.

In other news, we recently reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook was looking for new members for Apple's Board of Directors. This past week, on Thursday, Apple announced that Susan L. Wagner, founding partner and director of BlackRock, has been elected to Apple's board of directors. She will replace Bill Campbell, the board’s

After a relatively quiet last week, we can expect a bit more action this week as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is set to report its third quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday July 22. Analysts largely expect Apple will report $1.22 in earnings per share on $37.864 billion in revenue for expected year over year growth of 14% and 7% respectively. Q2 saw Apple's revenue increase by 5% and operating income increase by 8%. iPhone sales were up 15% while iPad sales were down 3%.

Samsung announced its Q2 earnings last week and reported a whopping 24% decline in income. This marks the third consecutive quarter in which the Korean giant reported a decline in profit. It pointed to increased competition in China and Europe as the primary culprit.

Tim Cook is reportedly looking for new board members. The current Board of Directors at Apple is aging, with six of the seven outside members over the age of 63. They are also known for their loyalty to Steve Jobs, which might not serve Cook