Excitement and disappointment over Apple's new products sent its stock on a rollercoaster ride Tuesday as investors reacted to a bevy of announcements.
Apple's stock was volatile -- and shares ended lower -- as investors decided the news didn't match-up with the sky-high expectations and hype.
Shares of Apple ended down $0.37 to $97.99 -- dragging down the market and the tech-heavy Nasdaq along with it.
Apple stock initially picked up steam as the meeting progressed especially after the announcement of a mobile payment system. But the stock faded again after the company said its new watch would only work with iPhones and wouldn't be available until next year.
Shares bounced around $100 a share as the meeting progressed when two models of the new iPhone were announced as expected. The stock picked up steam following the plan of to allow consumers to add credit card information to their phones. The gains held as the company unveiled the much rumored $350 smartwatch, but evaporated as the timing and iPhone requirement was revealed.
Shares of Apple have been struggling to hold at $100 a share for days. The $100 barrier is an important one for the stock since it's acted as resistance before.
The company was widely expected to announce an update to its iPhone smartphones with a larger screen in an effort to catch up to innovation in that area from Samsung and Microsoft's Nokia. Analysts were also expecting the company to announce a watch.
Analysts expect the company would charge more for the model of the phone with the larger screen, a move to defend the company's relatively high operating margins. Defending profit margins is a key part of the stock's success and increasingly difficult as competition heats up.
The company said the new iPhone will come in two sizes, a regular-sized 4.7-inch one and a super-sized 5.5-inch one called the iPhone 6 Plus. The company only provided prices including subsidies connected with a two-year contract. With that contract, the iPhone 6 will cost between $199 and $399 depending on how much memory it has. The iPhone 5 Plus will start at $299.
But the fact the Apple Watch won't be available until next year is a bit of a surprise. Apple has long been known to capture on excitement over products by being ready to ship while the hype and anticipation is still there.
A shaky announcement day reaction by the stock is the norm. Apple shares stock have gained 0.3% on average on the first day following the previous iPhone announcements, which is equivalent to the average gains of the market on the same days. The stock fell 2.3% on the day the iPhone 5S was introduced last year.
