Apple tops $900B as iPhone X launches
Apple Inc. briefly became the first $900 billion company in the U.S. on Friday, the day its stores around the world were inundated with customers trying to get their hands on the new iPhone X.
Demand for the handset, which boasts a facial recognition system, an edge-to-edge display, and a price tag starting at $999, has prompted Apple to predict record sales of at least $84 billion in the Christmas quarter. The shares gained as much as 3.7 percent during the trading day, briefly tipping Apple's market capitalization above $900 billion. They rose $4.39, or 2.6 percent, to close Friday at $172.50.
"Apple is taking the iPhone franchise to a whole new level with the iPhone X, pushing the company deep into the ultra-luxury smartphone market with the highest priced iPhone in the company's history," Drexel Hamilton LLC analyst Brian White wrote in a note to clients. "We believe Apple has attractive upside over the next 12 months."
Apple shares have climbed almost 50 percent this year on expectations for the iPhone X, which comes 10 years after the original iPhone was released. Even with those gains and the record valuation, Apple still trades at just 19 times earnings. That's a discount to Google parent Alphabet Inc., which trades at 31 times earnings; Netflix Inc., which trades at 200 times earnings; and Amazon.com Inc.'s 277 price-to-earnings multiple.
"It's selling at less than the market multiple," said Hank Smith, chief investment officer at The Haverford Trust Co., which owns Apple shares. In a Bloomberg Television interview, he said that unlike those other companies, Apple has to convince consumers to buy a new phone annually. "They have to sell millions of phones each year, so there's always a chance those sales can come in late."
-- Bloomberg News
Kroger to offer its own line of clothing
Kroger Co., the largest U.S. supermarket chain, is launching an apparel line that it pledges will be "playful, simple and uplifting." It will be sold in 300 stores, including Fred Meyer and Kroger Marketplace locations.
Robert Clark, the company's senior vice president of merchandising, said the brand "gives Kroger a chance to inspire and connect with our customers, offering effortless style every day," according to a statement.
The company is under pressure to find a winning formula -- the value of Kroger shares has dropped nearly 40 percent this year through the close of trading Thursday. Battered by food deflation and discounts, it has seen sales slump and profit margins erode.
With competition intensifying and Amazon.com Inc.'s expansion onto Kroger's home turf, the company is experimenting with new ideas. It is investing in technology as shoppers move online and has opened a restaurant. It may also sell off its convenience stores, which generate about $4 billion in sales.
With nearly 2,800 stores, Kroger has insisted it's well-positioned to compete with Amazon and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as well as the host of other grocers it battles across the country.
-- Bloomberg News
Texas chooses site for gold depository
AUSTIN, Texas -- An Austin-area city will be home to the Texas Bullion Depository, with construction expected to begin early next year.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Friday announced the site will be in Leander, about 20 miles north of Austin. The exact location hasn't been revealed for security reasons.
Hegar in June announced that Lone Star Tangible Assets of Austin had been selected to build and operate the depository.
The 2015 Legislature approved a plan to start keeping the state's gold holdings in its own borders, instead of in an underground vault at a New York City bank.
Officials haven't said how much Texas gold will be stored at the new facility.
-- The Associated Press
Equifax probe clears execs' stock sales
ATLANTA -- Equifax, the credit report company that was hacked over the summer, exposing the personal information of 145 million Americans, said a special committee has determined none of the four executives who sold shares at the time did anything wrong.
The high-level executives, Equifax Chief Financial Officer John Gamble and three other executives -- Rodolfo Ploder, Joseph Loughran and Douglas Brandberg -- sold shares worth a combined $1.8 million in the days immediately after the company discovered the breach.
The company said Friday that a special committee, comprised of independent directors and advised by an independent counsel, found that none of the executives had knowledge of the breach when their trades were made and that approval of the trades was obtained.
The committee's review of the matter included dozens of interviews and the scouring of more than 55,000 documents including emails, text messages and phone logs.
The Atlanta company is under multiple state and federal investigations and has been sued by numerous customers in litigation likely to evolve into class-action lawsuits.
-- The Associated Press
Nestle to buy cold-brew coffee maker
Nestle SA is still thirsty for craft coffee. The Swiss food and beverage giant agreed to purchase Chameleon Cold-Brew, bolstering its portfolio of premium java in the U.S.
Austin, Texas-based Chameleon leads the nation's organic cold-brew coffee market, a segment that has grown significantly as more consumers choose to take their caffeine cold.
The deal marks Nestle's second investment in premium U.S. coffee in three months -- it agreed to pay $425 million for a 68 percent stake in Oakland, Calif.-based Blue Bottle Coffee Co. in September. Nestle Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider has said the company is focusing on expanding coffee sales in the U.S.
"We are committed to helping Chameleon grow into new markets and channels, while retaining its values and, of course, delicious, premium crafted coffee," Paul Grimwood, head of Nestle's U.S. operations, said in a statement to Bloomberg News. Terms weren't disclosed.
The acquisitions are part of a trend by big food and beverage companies to buy up smaller players to capture their rapid growth in premium segments.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 11/04/2017