A Fool Looks Back

Updated

Apple (NAS: AAPL) posted a blowout quarter on Tuesday, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The world's most valuable company had seen its shares fall in 10 of the previous 11 trading days. The shares surged nearly 9% higher on the day, making back more than half of the losses they had amassed during the two previous weeks.

The winner here was the iPhone. Apple's trend-setting smarpthone now accounts for 58% of the company's revenue.

It's a good thing the iPhone is doing so well, because iPod sales continue to shrink -- and even Apple's flagship Mac business saw its revenue inch just 2% higher from the prior year's quarter. The iPad is selling well, though the 11.8 million units sold during the quarter fell short of the 13 million that analysts were expecting.


It may not matter for now. The iPhone is hot, and business is booming overseas. Its success should be enough to carry Apple to higher ground. However, now there will be even more pressure on Apple to make sure that the iPhone 5 model that should be out later this year is another hit.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • Weakness in Europe forced Ford (NYS: F) into posting lower quarterly profits on Friday, but earlier in the week Fitch became the first credit-rating agency to boost Ford's debt to investment-grade after being mired as junk debt since 2005.

  • Howard Stern filed an appeal in his lawsuit against Sirius XM Radio (NAS: SIRI) . The original allegations were thrown out a week earlier.

  • Social-gaming leader Zynga (NAS: ZNGA) posted better-than-expected earnings, fueled by a 32% surge in revenue. It would be easy to play "B-E-A-T" in a game of its Words With Friends app to mark the event, though it wouldn't score a lot of points.

Moving on
Now that you've had a glimpse of the past, let's delve into the future. A new report details the latest Rule-Breaking multibagger that has earned Fool co-founder David Gardner's attention. The report is free, and you're closer to it than you might think. Check it out now.

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford and Apple.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Ford and Apple, creating a synthetic long position in Ford, and creating a bull call spread position in Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.Longtime Fool contributorRick Munarrizcalls them as he sees them. He owns shares of Ford and is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.

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