September 30th, 1999

[3:45 PM] Apple Stock Watch: G4 Shortage Continues To Haunt Apple's Stock Apple fell again as the markets regrouped following yesterday's "window dressing" trading day. October is traditionally a poor month for stocks as portfolio managers continue to juggle their stocks in preparation for their upcoming prospectus releases. Another factor in Apple's decline was a CS First Boston lowering of their earnings estimates for Apple in the 4th quarter. Despite the fact that Apple announced their earnings warning last week, today's announcement from CS First Boston still affected Apple's stock. According to CBS Marketwatch: Shares of Apple Computer sank almost 3 percent after Credit Suisse First Boston's Michael Kwatinetz lowered his fourth-quarter earnings-per-share estimate following the Fortune 500 company's profit warning early last week. On Friday, CS First Boston's Kwatinetz lowered his fourth-quarter profit estimate on Apple to 45 cents per share from 76 cents, based on information "already digested by the market," a research update said. "Demand for Apple's products remains high, however we believe revenue will come in at about $1.35 billion, about $275 million short of our original forecast," he wrote in the research update. Apple closed at 61 23/32, a loss of 1 19/32 or 2.52%. Volume was lower than it has been in recent trading sessions with 5,488,200 shares trading hands. Mac software companies were mixed with Macromedia trading higher while Adobe and Symantec ended the day in negative territory. Apple's AIM partners, IBM and Motorola, both ended the day lower. On the Dark Side, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq joined Apple in the red, while Dell, Intel, and Gateway 2000 all closed higher. The Dow and the Nasdaq also ended the day lower. The Dow closed at 10273.00, a loss of 63.95 and the Nasdaq closed at 2736.88, down 9.28. For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report. The Mac Observer Spin: Analysts are all still maintaining a "buy" rating on Apple despite the fact that the last few trading sessions have seen Apple consistently trading in a range of US$60. Tuesday's announcement of new iMacs could change this. Apple