Apple shareshave had a tumultuous 2013.
For thefirst half, shares declined by nearly a quarter, dropping below the $400 levelin the first week of summer. From the October 1, 2012 until the end of June, Apple'svalue dropped 40%.
Then came thesecond half of 2013 and, so far, it's been great for stockholders. Apple's sharesare up more than 26% and, for the year, it's now down "only" 5%.
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Yet one big reasonfor this recent ascent has nothing to do with what the company does but more todo with one of its biggest shareholders and how it handles its balance sheet. OnAugust 13, billionaire investor Carl Icahn took to Twitter to say he boughtshares in the tech giant. Since then, Apple's price has gone up more than 10%.
Icahn saysthe company is undervalued and he wants CEO Tim Cook to use its liquid assets ($11.2billion in cash, $31.3 billion in short-term) to buy back some of Apple'sshares. Icahn thinks doing so will bring share prices up to $700. He owns about$1 billion worth of Apple's stocks.
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But what ifthere's even more value in Apple's future that has little to do with what one largeinvestor wants from its balance sheet?
Eric Jackson,Founder and Managing Partner of Ironfire Capital, made a name for himself as anactivist investor in tech companies. He says there are three possible surprisesin the near future with Apple's products. Besides investing in public companiesincluding Apple, Jackson's Ironfire fund also invests in startups. Jackson is alsoa regular contributor to Forbes and TheStreet.com on the subject of tech.
To hear what three surprisesJackson says are in store with Apple, watch the video above.
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