What went up had to go down. Apple’s stock soared up to 705.07 before the iPhone 5 announcement, making it the most valuable company in history with a market cap in excess of $620 billion. There were lofty 
predictions that it was just going to keep going up, but neither a slew of new product announcements nor the company’s earnings call have done the stock any favors. Apple slid below $600 today, and is currently trading at $591.85.
Apple’s earnings exceeded the company’s own estimates but fell short of Wall Street’s grander expectations. This particular slide started when Tim Cook said that the company had shipped 100 million iPads during the iPad mini announcement â€" a few enterprising investors were revise their estimates based on that number. Some suspected that the iPad Mini itself was priced to high, and wouldn’t be able to compete in the budget tablet market. On top of that Apple’s earnings call revealed profit margins a little thinner than what the company was used to. The company is still making money hand over fist, but lofty expectations trigger panic when they’re not met.
The holidays, however, are going to be big for Apple. Nearly every major product line has a shiny new coat of paint going into the season, and nearly every gift giver has a price point that makes sense. The thing to remember is that the iPad mini isn’t more expensive than other tablets â€" it’s less expensive than the iPad. Tech enthusiasts get furious at people who spend the extra money for the Apple logo and iOS when less expensive tablets offer better specs, but Apple loyalty is real. Apple’s utter dominance of mindshare in the tablet market won’t last forever, but it will last a little while longer.
And on top of that the juiced up standard iPad, the iPhone 5 and new iMacs, and you’ve got an impressive product lineup. It’s not mind-blowing, it’s not shocking, but it’s a solid array of proven, desirable products. Expect that stock price to head back up once we start to get an idea of how much Apple is moving in the coming months.
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