The Apple Effect?

September 11, 2015

On Wednesday, September 9th, Apple announced the details on the latest iteration of its flagship product – the iPhone. The iPhone 6S and 6SPlus were the ninth major iPhone announcements since the iPhone 1 was first unveiled to the world on June 29th, 2007 (excluding new storage space and color variations of the same model). The announcement events are widely covered by the media and fans of one of the most innovative companies of the 21st Century.

This week’s chart examines the change in Apple’s stock price from the announcement through the following six days and comparing that change to the return of the S&P 500 over the same time periods. On average, Apple has outperformed the index by 2.62% over the past eight announcement dates.

The importance of this announcement can be seen in the S&P 500 holdings, of which Apple is the largest contributor with a 3.71% weight. While it cannot be said with utmost certainty that Apple will outperform the market with its latest product announcement, it is safe to assume that these products will continue to be a major revenue source for the company, drive movements in the stock price, and therefore have a significant influence on the return of the index.