Why is Apple's ticker AAPL?

[Unspeaked]

I think it's sadly true that the markets still really don't understand anything Apple is doing beyond the iPod... ...I don't think the situation has changed appreciably today.

Yes, take a look at any business magazine or financial site mentioning Apple, and it's always iPod related.

At best, they might mention the "halo-effect" or some rumored new gadget like the iPhone, but it's always half-hearted mentions.

Apple could announce next quarter that their computer hardware sales quadrupled while their iPod sales fell 10% and the stock would plummet.

Hopefully, Apple can outgrow this by contuninung to post solid numbers, but it's going to take a long time for them to get out of the iPods long shadow in the business world.

 

[ftaok]

This story doesn't sound very plausible, if only because stock tables are not sorted by ticker symbols but by the company's name. As was pointed out, APPL was already taken. This didn't leave many options, except perhaps APLE. Not sure if that one isn't also already in use.

It depends on what stock table that you're looking at. I know the ones found in USA Today are sorted by Company Name, but the ones that used to show up in the Philly Inquirer (at least back in the 80's) didn't list the company name and just had tickers. In that case, AAPL would be listed ahead of APLE or APPL.

But then again, it could just be legend and not based entirely on facts.

ft

 

[Unspeaked]

Then there's the fact that where a company is listed on the exchange has zero impact on the stock itself.

I mean, this isn't the phone book where people will phone to exterminators in alphabetical order until they find a price they like... investment bankers don't just toss around millions of dollars because one tech company's ticker is higher than another's...

(At least, they shouldn't!)

 

[IJ Reilly]

Then there's the fact that where a company is listed on the exchange has zero impact on the stock itself.

I mean, this isn't the phone book where people will phone to exterminators in alphabetical order until they find a price they like... investment bankers don't just toss around millions of dollars because one tech company's ticker is higher than another's...

(At least, they shouldn't!)

Quite right. If Steve & Steve were so interested in alphabetical advantages, they'd have named the company Aardvark Computer. I think we should be so grateful that they weren't. I mean, who'd want to buy computers named for various types of ants?

 

[leahtsang]

I would say APPL was take so the next best choice would be AAPL as "An Apple" instead of APLE, APLL and APEE those are ugly names.

 

[rdowns]

I would say APPL was take so the next best choice would be AAPL as "An Apple" instead of APLE, APLL and APEE those are ugly names.

Thank you for your input. After 3 years, this thread now has closure.

 

[okmikey123]

btw is anyone buying apple stock right now? is it a good buy?

yeah it is

 

[obeygiant]

yeah it is

haha yeah it was! In 2006 when that post was made there was no iPhone yet and the stock price was around $12 per share.

 

[chabig]

It just is. The company's name is "Apple Computer Inc." but their symbol is "AAPL". Just accept it.

An old thread, but now the company's name is just "Apple, Inc."

 

[okmikey123]

haha yeah it was! In 2006 when that post was made there was no iPhone yet and the stock price was around $12 per share.

I made this account just to say yeah as a joke but wow, that's before the stock split. I was only 10 years old back then, but kudos to any of you that bought it

 

[obeygiant]

I made this account just to say yeah as a joke but wow, that's before the stock split. I was only 10 years old back then, but kudos to any of you that bought it

Well hey get 100 posts under your belt and then you can post in the PRSI forum where the real fun begins.

 

[BoulderAdonis]

Not on Wall Street it ain't!

Well, *that* comment hasn’t weathered well ...

 

[nouveau_redneck]

Apple foresaw the butterfly keyboard and wanted to get ahead of the game with the repeating A in AAPL.

 

[deasys]

Well, *that* comment hasn’t weathered well ...

Actually, it has!

Wall Street has just substituted the iPhone for the iPod and is thus making the same stupid error in evaluating Apple. Quite pitiful really…

 

[threesixty360]

if it was anything to do with Jobs he probably wanted to guarantee it was the first stock on the list in alphabetical order.

 

[chucker23n1]

Welcome, Daring Fireball readers!

 

[AidenShaw]

if it was anything to do with Jobs he probably wanted to guarantee it was the first stock on the list in alphabetical order.

Amusing comment, but a failure.

 

[threesixty360]

Amusing comment, but a failure.

View attachment 838683

well its in the top 10... not sure where APPL would be.
Not even sure how many of those tickers were there when Apple IPO'd either..

 

[willmonwah]

At least according to a book that I read (Infinte Loop), the reason that Apple chose AAPL was to have it listed higher on the NASDAQ alphabetically. It was a Steve Jobs decision.

How much of it was true and how much is lore is debateable. Kinda like how when Woz was named employee #1, Jobs demanded to be employee #0.

ft

FT, did you mean Infinite Loop by Michael S Malone? I had 10 minutes to take a peak inside the book at the library today and it attributes the ticker to Apple's then PR chief Fred Hoar. It's a tantalizing detail but doesn't go into detail around the thought process.

This story doesn't sound very plausible, if only because stock tables are not sorted by ticker symbols but by the company's name. As was pointed out, APPL was already taken. This didn't leave many options, except perhaps APLE. Not sure if that one isn't also already in use.

APPL (Appell Petroleum, now delisted) would have been taken but APLE (Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc., listed in 2015) would have been available.