Apple Is 'Trying to Hide Something' With Reporting Shakeup: Analyst
*By Chloe Aiello*
Apple shares tumbled on Friday, as investors and analysts processed the tech giant's announcement it would no longer publish unit sales for its iPhones, iPads, or Macs in future earnings reports. Apple executives have insisted the metrics are no longer relevant to investors ー but some analysts don't see it that way.
"When we kind of look at this on the surface, clearly it appears to be that Apple is trying to hide something," CFRA Research's senior industry analyst Angelo Zino told Cheddar Friday.
Despite beating on quarterly earnings and revenue, Apple ($AAPL) [disappointed investors on Thursday](https://cheddar.com/videos/apple-shares-tumble-despite-beating-earnings-expectations) with weaker-than-anticipated guidance for the ever-important holiday quarter, and iPhone unit sales that just missed the mark, notching almost zero growth from a year ago. But perhaps what shocked Apple watchers most was the company's decision to, beginning next quarter, withhold the number of iPhones, iPads, and Macs it sold.
Apple's chief financial officer Luca Maestri announced the change on a conference call with investors following Thursday's earnings report, arguing "a unit of sale is less relevant for us today than it was in the past."
CEO Tim Cook added, "This is a little bit like if you go to the market and you push your cart up to the cashier and she says or he says, 'How many units you have in there?' It doesn't matter a lot how many units there are in there in terms of the overall value of what's in the cart."
Technology analyst Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said that although he understands the logic of the decision ー considering average selling prices are all over the board ー it damages Apple's reputation of transparency.
"The Street will find this a tough pill to swallow this morning ... given that tracking iPhone units have become habitual to any investor that has closely followed the Apple story for the last decade-plus and is critical to the thesis," Ives wrote in a note on Friday.
"Skeptics will point to Apple doing this right at the critical juncture where higher \[average selling prices\] are making up for slower unit sales which remains the worry and the stock will get hit accordingly this morning," he added.
Despite their skepticism, both Ives and Zino remain bullish on Apple ー at least for now.
"We are probably going to see a down environment in terms of unit shipments over the next year, but that being said, average selling prices continue to offset those declines," Zino said.
"We are buying on the dip ... we are very positive, we are very bullish on this."
Apple briefly its lost grip on its $1 trillion market capitalization during trading on Friday. The stock ultimately closed the day down about 6.8 percent, putting it in a so-called "correction," more than 10 percent off its all-time highs.
Apple did not immediately respond to Cheddar's request for comment.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/apple-earnings-spark-concerns).
Attack surface management startup CyCognito recently raised $100 million in its latest funding round, valuing the company at $800 million. CyCognito offers cyber security through its attack surface scanner, which uses artificial intelligence to identify weak spots in an organization's network. The new funding comes as companies around the world continue to add new defenses to the growing rise of cyber threats and attacks. CyCognito co-founder and CEO Rob Gurzeev joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, faced withering questions on Capitol Hill about the reports the social media app was aware of the severe mental health impacts it was having on teenage girls. Karen Kornbluh, the director of digital innovation and democracy for the German Marshall Fund, joined Cheddar to discuss the rare show of bipartisan outrage on display at the Senate hearing. "The senators came really loaded for bear on both sides of the aisle," she said. Kornbluh explained how senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) set up fake Instagram accounts with teen girl profiles in order to research the effects firsthand.
A mental health crisis among young people is looming, and a large part of it is online. Cheddar News speaks with digital policy expert Karen Kornbluh on the issue.
Roshan Jhunja, head of retail at Square, joined Cheddar to talk about the financial services company's second annual Future of Retail report. Square expects the massive shift to e-commerce to continue into 2022 as more consumers get used to the online shopping experience. For Square, soon-to-be renamed Block, which began predominantly as a digital payment platform, Jhunja said the company is also helping sellers with automation amid ongoing labor shortages.
Facebook is undergoing more than a name change. The company, now known as Meta, has also seen an exodus of executives this year. While the timing of some of these resignations came before whistleblower allegations, it's undeniable the tech giant is undergoing big changes. Doug Astrop, Managing Partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss Facebook's current state, possible regulatory scrutiny, the impact of Instagram chief Adam Mosseri's Congressional testimony, and more.
Fast AF, a premiere quick commerce retailer for products and brands just announced the close of its Series A investment round. That round puts the value of the company at $200 million. The company gets items to customers ranging from masks to sneakers and is now launching its own in-house delivery service. Lee Hnetinka, founder and CEO of FastAF joins Cheddar News to discuss the announcement.
Carolina Navas, Snap's head of AR product strategy and product marketing, joins Cheddar News to discuss how Snapchat's augmented reality is changing the shopping game this holiday season.
Instagram Chief Executive Adam Mosseri is set to testify before Congress for the first time. Mosseri’s appearance follows reports that showed Facebook and Instagram are aware of the harms their apps and services cause, including to teen mental health. Nicole Gill, co-founder and executive director of Accountable Tech joins Cheddar News to preview the hearing.
Steve Case, Revolution Ventures CEO, joined Cheddar to discuss progress venture capitalists have made over 2021 and where investors are looking beyond Silicon Valley. Other locations VC firms are exploring include Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago among others. "Historically there's been a brain drain in a lot of these cities, people leaving for opportunity elsewhere. Now, people are staying," he said of the emerging tech hubs. "There tends to be a collaborative effort in the community to really support startups to recognize the future of the community."
