Apple Stock

The dominant headline of the past week has been Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) seemingly imminent purchase of Beats Electronics. Founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine stand to make quite a bit of money (and possibly be given senior positions) when the $3.2 billion deal is finalized.

Apple's iBeacon continues to spread as Duane Reade and Virgin Atlantic install the transmitters at their locations. iBeacons use Bluetooth Low Energy technology to communicate with consumers based on location. Duane Reade, for example, will push product information, reviews and discounts relevant to the product a customer is standing in front of. The two companies are the latest in a growing list

Apple v Samsung part two came to an end on Friday after four weeks of testimony and three days of jury deliberation. Though Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was awarded $119 million in damages for Samsung's multiple patent infringements, it can hardly be considered a victory, as the company sought $2.2 billion in damages. Samsung's counterclaim that Apple infringed on some of its patents netted it a meager $154,000. Of greater consequence than the damages awarded is the fact that this verdict opens the door for Apple to try to block Samsung from selling any of its devices that were found to infringe upon Apple patents in the U.S.

Apple's Q2 earnings report showed that iPad sales had fallen just over 16 percent from the year ago quarter. According to analysis by market research firm IDC (International Data Corporation), the slump is industry-wide and is likely to continue

The biggest news of the week from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the company's Q2 earnings report, which was released on Wednesday. Quarterly revenue, net profit and gross margin all surpassed the year ago quarter's numbers, as well as most analysts' expectations. The better-than-expected earnings were mostly due to 43.7 million iPhone sales, which easily topped last year's Q2 sales of 37.4 million and analysts' expectations of around 38 million. On the other hand, iPad sales slumped to just 16.35 million, down 16 percent from a year ago.

Despite the lagging iPad sales, Tim Cook found reason to be optimistic - two thirds of iPads registered in the last six months were registered by people new to Apple products. That translates to more future sales, assuming the new customers are pleased with their iPads. Apple corporate controller Luca Maestri noted that iPad

Along with releasing its Q2 fiscal results today, Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized an increase to its program to return capital to its investors. On top of that, the company also announced that its shares will be undergoing a seven-for-one stock split in June.

The expanded program allows Apple to spend up to $90 billion on share repurchases, up from the $60 billion that was announced last year. The company expects to use a total of $130 billion under the expanded program by the end of 2015. The increased buyback will generate capital for stockholders and is something

Apple today released its Q2 FY 2014 (ended March 29, 2014) earnings report, and the numbers did not disappoint. Tim Cook spoke glowingly of the better-than-expected performance, "We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services." Almost all numbers were up, only iPad and iPod sales fell.

Apple posted a $45.6 billion quarterly revenue and a quarterly net profit of $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per diluted share. These numbers are up from last year's Q2 results, which were $43.6 billion, $9.5 billion and $10.09 respectively. The quarterly gross margin increased from 37.5 percent a year ago to 39.3 percent. Not only did this quarter outperform last year's Q2, but it also outperformed Apple's disappointing Q2 guidance, which caused a dip in stock prices in late January. The