Core issues
Apple gets crunched
Good morning, digital devotees. This is your Stock Market Rundown for January 10th, 2024. Thanks for tuning in. Let’s get it started:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: CUPERTINO COURT CLASH
Forget a Rolex or Tag Heuer. The most prestigious timepiece adorning the wrists of the elite these days is an Apple Watch. They’re even waterproof, so you can check your email while shampooing.
One in every three smartwatches sold is an Apple device, racking up $17 billion a year of revenue for the tech giant. That’s why it was a shocker when Apple stopped selling some Apple Watches on its website just a few days before Christmas.
The problem? A legal tussle with a medical device manufacturer who says Apple’s been biting their style. The spat stretches back to 2013, when Apple poached some key executives from medtech company Masimo. The execs then registered patents that, according to Masimo, were ripped off wholesale.
Masimo claims Apple stole their trade secrets on how wearable devices can measure blood oxygen. Kind of a key feature, since it’s what makes Apple Watch a health device, and not just an overpriced Timex that pings you when you get a text from mom.
This case has been dragging on for years, with more plot twists than a soap opera. But a cliffhanger came in late 2023, when an international trade tribunal took Masimo’s side, and ordered Apple to stop selling some models of its watches. Days later, Apple won a temporary reprieve, but this tug-of-war isn’t over.
Masimo is open to a cordial settlement of the feud—a settlement that would probably involve billions of dollars changing hands—but Apple isn’t into it. “They haven’t called,” Masimo’s CEO complained to Bloomberg in an interview. Gee, it sure sucks when they leave you on read.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Mickey Mouse made his debut in 1928; today, thanks to the 95-year limit on copyright, the character has entered public domain. Predictably, there are already multiple horror movies in production that will turn Walt Disney’s bashful hero into a psychotic serial killer.
Peloton just got a TikTok account. The stationary bike maker cut a deal to post its video content, including live classes and celebrity collabs, on the Chinese-owned social platform. Respectable effort to get people to use their Peloton bike as more than just a place to hang clothes.
Hedge funds are stockpiling barrels of raw uranium. No, they’re not planning to drop any nuclear bombs on underperforming portfolio companies—just buying and holding as a bet on a bull market in uranium.
Do you sweat over TurboTax every April? Outsourcing your tax return will save yourself some frustration, but it’ll cost you: the average fee tax pros charged in 2023 was $218. Worth it if you can find somebody who can figure out how to write off installing an inground swimming pool.
That's today's scoop, friends; see you tomorrow at our usual morning slot for another round. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
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