Apple news, we ve got Apple news:
We ll have to change our usual description of Carl Icahn from corporate agitator to Apple booster. His open letter to Tim Cook today has driven up Apple s market value by $8 billion.
Apple shares are worth $240, says Icahn. With Apple s shares trading for just $128.77 per share versus our valuation of $240 per share, now is the time for a much larger buyback, he wrote.
Icahn also says poor Apple is misunderstood, considering its rumored entry into two new major markets, TV and cars, which have a combined addressable market of $2.2 trillion, a view investors don t appear to factor into their valuation at all.
Apple has bought Coherent Navigation, a Santa Clara startup whose GPS offering is described by the New York Times as far stronger than many consumer-grade global positioning systems. The Coherent purchase follows Apple s acquisition of other companies whose business is location. The iPhone maker is seen as catching up with Google Maps navigation, which Apple had used before it dumped it and created its own — which at first didn t work out so well.
Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at George Washington University s graduation ceremony over the weekend. He urged graduates to speak up against injustice and do work that makes a difference.
You don t have to choose between doing good and doing well — it s a false choice, today more than ever, he said. Cook also said his predecessor, the late Steve Jobs, inspired him to think of work as more than just work. [Jobs] convinced me that if we made great products, we too could change the world.
And speaking of Steve Jobs, a first look trailer for an upcoming movie about his life came out this weekend. The movie, which will open Oct. 9, is based on the Walter Isaacson biography of the Apple co-founder. The Aaron Sorkin film stars Michael Fassbender as Jobs.
Photo at top from Associated Press
