Billionaire's tweet creates $17.3 billion in value

[Hum]

Apple (AAPL) shares typically rally on earnings surprises and product announcements, but Tuesday we witnessed the power of a single tweet, one capable of moving the $445 billion stock up by as much as $17 billion.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, in a tweet posted at 2:21 p.m. ET, said he had bought Apple shares, an announcement that pushed the stock up from $475.76 to a high of $494.66 about an hour later. In total, that was a $17 billion move. "We currently have a large position in APPLE. We believe the company to be extremely undervalued. Spoke to Tim Cook today. More to come," he wrote.

Icahn followed up with a second tweet a few minutes later explaining he?d had a "nice conversation" with Apple CEO Tim Cook and hoped the company would increase its stock buyback plan.

Apple closed at $489.55, meaning its market capitalization increased $12.5 billion from the time of Icahn?s initial tweet.

The shares have been rallying, gaining 15% since the company announced its most recent earnings on July 23. Apple said it sold 31.2 million iPhones, far more than analysts expected. The stock has also benefited from rumors that a new iPhone will be announced on Sept. 10, possibly even a low-priced plastic model to better compete in developing markets.

 

The unprecedented Twitter move came just a day after Icahn?s company warned that the wily and seasoned investor had embraced social media and might use it to disclose important information.

 

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[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

Clever.   Buy a lot of Apple stock,  sent out a tweet, and an hour later you already earned about 5%...   

 

bet he told everyone he cares about, to buy apple before the public tweet.

[V-Tech]

I'm sure someone can find something that say it's not 100% legal........

This is kinda a way to boost your stock price....

 

Donno, not a big expert in those kind of things but it smells fishy....

[Mr.XXIV]

Maybe he's in the loop of what's really going to happen.

[UseLess]

Haha this is a brilliant way to make a bit of money. I'm very suspicious of rich people and the stock market but...buy enough of a stock, and the price will go up. Sell enough of a stock, and down it goes =P

[Growled Member]

Clever.   Buy a lot of Apple stock,  sent out a tweet, and an hour later you already earned about 5%...   

 

bet he told everyone he cares about, to buy apple before the public tweet.

Very. I'm not a fan of his, though. 

[threetonesun]

I'm sure someone can find something that say it's not 100% legal........

This is kinda a way to boost your stock price....

 

Donno, not a big expert in those kind of things but it smells fishy....

 

It's been going on through Twitter for a while now, although probably not quite at this scale in one tweet before. Remember how you used to get those e-mails that were spam that read something like, "I hear stock XX is going up soon, and it's so low!" Yeah, they've been replaced by a few billion Twitter spambots that do the same thing.

[vcfan]

tim cook has alot to learn. he should be very careful. this is the same guy who tried to **** with dell,and since the board at dell didnt kiss his ass and obey his orders,hes suing the company and trying to prevent the vote of going private to happen from when its going to happen. the last thing apple needs is distraction from this guy.

[Buttus]

Clever.   Buy a lot of Apple stock,  sent out a tweet, and an hour later you already earned about 5%...   

 

bet he told everyone he cares about, to buy apple before the public tweet.

 

yea, double the volume today too!   i wish there was a way to see who bought it before that post....

[The Teej]

tim cook has alot to learn. he should be very careful. this is the same guy who tried to **** with dell,and since the board at dell didnt kiss his ass and obey his orders,hes suing the company and trying to prevent the vote of going private to happen from when its going to happen. the last thing apple needs is distraction from this guy.

 

Fully agreed - I'm not a massive fan of Icahn and while I'm not exactly Apple's biggest fan, I personally wouldn't want this guy near them. It'll only cause trouble.

[neufuse Veteran]

Odd, I find Apple to be extremely overvalued... glad I don't fall for people like him that manipulate markets to their advantage... this guy didn't get rich playing nice

 

btw everything Icahn n touches... usually goes sour

[Torolol]

 Yeah, they've been replaced by a few billion Twitter spambots that do the same thing.

yeah, just like their predecessor (the email spambots), those twitter spambots are still lacking something important: Credibility to moves peoples into action.