Wall Street in the late eighties was a different beast. No high-frequency trading algorithms. No Robinhood. Just a lot of paper, shouting, and a burgeoning tech company in Cupertino that was finally starting to find its second wind after the chaotic departure of Steve Jobs a few years prior. If you’re looking at apple stock volume april 6 1987, you’re digging into a specific Monday that sits right in the middle of one of Apple’s most transformative years.
It wasn't a "crash" day. It wasn't the day the iPhone launched (obviously). But for the traders on the floor, it was part of a massive run-up that would lead to Apple’s first-ever stock split just a few months later.
The Raw Numbers: Apple Stock Volume April 6 1987
Let's get the data out of the way first. On April 6, 1987, Apple (AAPL) saw a trading volume that reflected the growing institutional interest in the Macintosh II and the Macintosh SE, which had both been announced just a month earlier at AppleWorld in Los Angeles.
On this specific Monday, the stock opened at around $0.31 (adjusted for the five splits that have happened since then). The unadjusted price back then was actually hovering in the high $60s to low $70s. Volume wasn't the multi-million share frenzy we see today; in the context of 1987’s market liquidity, it was steady.
Why do people look for this specific date? Honestly, it’s often because April 1987 was the month the "open" Macintosh II actually started shipping. This was the first Mac with color. The first Mac that didn’t look like a toaster. Investors were betting big on whether Apple could finally break into the corporate world dominated by IBM.
Context is Everything: The 1987 Bull Market
You've gotta remember that early 1987 was a rocket ship for tech. Apple started the year at a split-adjusted price of about $0.19. By the time April 6 rolled around, it had already climbed significantly.
- The Mac II Factor: This machine used the Motorola 68020 processor. It was a beast for its time.
- The Dividend Move: 1987 was the year Apple started paying dividends. That's a huge signal to "serious" investors that a company isn't just a garage startup anymore.
- Market Sentiment: The Dow was hitting record highs almost weekly in the spring of '87, blissfully unaware of the "Black Monday" crash that would eventually arrive in October.
If you were holding Apple on April 6, 1987, you were feeling pretty smart. The volume was healthy because the "smart money" was starting to realize that John Sculley’s Apple was actually making money, even without Steve Jobs at the helm.
Why Volume Matters for Historical Analysis
Volume is basically a "conviction meter." When the volume is high on a day like April 6, it tells us that there was a consensus. People weren't just day-trading for pennies; they were repositioning for the "New Apple."
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At the time, the daily volume for the entire NASDAQ was a fraction of what a single mega-cap stock sees today. For Apple to move the needle on volume in April '87, it usually required a major institutional buy-in. Interestingly, April 6 specifically was a day of consolidation. The price didn't skyrocket that afternoon, but the volume remained consistent with the previous week's heavy interest following the Santa Clara Developer Conference.
The Road to the June Split
The heavy trading volume we see throughout April 1987 was the precursor to the big event: June 16, 1987. That was the day Apple executed its first 2-for-1 stock split.
The stock had climbed so high (reaching near $80 in unadjusted terms) that the board decided it was getting too "expensive" for the average person. Looking back at the apple stock volume april 6 1987, you can see the accumulation phase. People were buying in anticipation of that split and the continued success of the Macintosh II.
What Most People Get Wrong About 1987 Apple
A lot of folks assume 1987 was a disaster for Apple because of the famous market crash in October. But that’s a narrow view.
Actually, for most of the year, Apple was a darling. Between January and June, the stock nearly tripled. If you looked at the volume on a random Tuesday in April, you'd see a company that was fundamentally healthy. The crash in October did hit Apple hard—it dropped from the $50s back into the $30s (unadjusted)—but it recovered much faster than many of its contemporaries.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs and Investors
If you're studying historical volume patterns like this, here is how to actually use this information:
- Look for the "Product Gap": Notice how volume often spikes after the announcement (March '87) but during the shipping phase (April '87). This is the "realization" phase where the market confirms the product is real.
- Compare to Modern Baselines: Apple’s volume today is often over 50 million shares. In 1987, a "huge" day might involve a few million shares total. Always normalize for the era's total market liquidity.
- Dividend Indicators: When a tech company starts a dividend (as Apple did in '87), volume often shifts from speculative "retail" to "institutional" hold.
To track this data more accurately, you should use the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) databases or Yahoo Finance’s historical "Adjusted Close" tool, which accounts for the splits in 1987, 2000, 2005, 2014, and 2020. This allows you to see the "true" value of those 1987 shares in today's context.
Understanding the specific movements of April 6 provides a window into a period where Apple was transitioning from a niche hobbyist brand into a global corporate powerhouse. The volume was the proof that the market was finally buying what John Sculley was selling.