After the Black Monday China stock market crash of 24 August, Apple’s shares dropped 10% as investors were concerned about its exposure to the Chinese market. Later that day Apple CEO Tim Cook took the unprecedented step of replying to an email of the TV host of the CNBC show Mad Money. He indicated that Apple has continued to see strong sales growth for its business in China during July and August. After this feedback went public on the TV show, Apple recovered US$ 78 billion of its lost market value. Considering SEC rules on fair disclosure, a BBC correspondent commented: “as the email did not contain any numbers, I suppose Apple could argue that the information was not material, and that (TV host) Jim Cramer is not a stock analyst”. The incident illustrates the impact of different disclosure venues – for example a press release versus a statutory report – on investor decision-making.
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