Apple Stock Falls Over 50%

Apple's (http://www.apple.com) stock price fell more than 50% Friday after warning that its earnings this quarter would be "substantially below" expectations.

The problem, said the company, is due to slower than expected sales in September.

"We've clearly hit a speedbump, which will result in our earning, before investment gains, approximately $110 million rather than the expected $165 million for the September quarter," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "Though this slowdown is disappointing, we have so many wonderful new products and programs in the pipeline-including Mac OS X early next year-and remain positive about our future."

Apple said it expects to report revenues between $1.85 and $1.90 billion and earnings per diluted share, excluding investment gains, between $.30 and $.33 when actual results are announced on October 18, 2000.

The earnings news comes just as Apple is getting ready to show off its streaming products at its QuickTime Live conference.