On Wednesday, Apple's chief executive suggested he had something up his sleeve to turn around the company's falling stock price; it lost another four dollars a share today as the Cupertino-based company held its annual shareholders meeting.
Apple says it had a banner year after updating the iPad, creating the iPad mini, refreshing the iPod line and improving its laptops. Their revenue grew by $48 billion.
When shareholders flocked to Apple headquarters for the annual meeting, there was both good and bad news.
Apple now has a staggering $137 billion in cash and short-term investments. The bad news is that after the tech giant's stock hit a high of $705 in September, shares have plunged around 35%. That's a loss of $240 billion in shareholder value.
Investor Joe Meduri complained that Apple fell short of his expectations.
"If they would have said something to, you know what they're going to do with that cash so far as a split in their stock or an increase in dividends, I think that would have boosted their shares," he said. "But they didn't mention anything today and, you know that's the disappointment."
CEO Tim Cook did say, "If we get it right, revenue and profits will follow." He also said that there is, "Some great stuff coming." But, he didn't say what that stuff was.
"He said they don't have their heads stuck in the sand, and I'm sure they don't so they can't say what they're going to do. I mean, you know, that's giving the store away," said Debi Fletcher, an Apple investor.
Labor organizers marched outside Wednesday's meeting complaining that an Apple contractor named SIS is discouraging efforts to represent security staff.
Ben Field of the South Bay Labor Council asked Cook to look into it in the same way Apple has been monitoring the practices of its China contractor Foxconn where iPads and iPhones are made.
"Both places there are workers who want to unionize. In both places there is management intimidation and Apple really shouldn't put up with it," Field said.
SIS says a union complaint filed last year with the National Labor Relations Board has been dismissed.
Apple always has something up its sleeve. But the question is what could it be? There's been talk about a wristwatch or maybe a TV. June is normally a month when we see new products come out.
