[MarketWatch]
On Wednesday, both Apple AAPL +0.14% and NetflixNFLX -0.55% reported earnings after the close. Apple earned $13.81 per share for the quarter; Netflix earned $0.13 for the quarter. Apple stock promptly fell over $50; Netflix stock went up about $40.
The differential between the performance of two stocks after their earnings announcements in after-hours trading may seem mind-boggling to some investors. Just imagine if you were short Apple and long Netflix going into earnings, you would have realized 43% gain in 90 minutes. The chart tells the story better than 1000 words can describe.
Apple generated $54.5 billion in sales in just 90 days. Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones, a remarkable achievement by any measure. Apple’s cash now stands at $137.1 billion. Just cash alone is now about one third of Apple’s market cap.
Netflix’s earnings came at $0.13 vs. consensus of a loss of $0.13. This is a beat of $0.26. Revenue came in at $945 million compared to consensus of $934 million.