Apple iPhone 4 Delays Have No Effect On Soaring Stock

The good news for Apple amidst that kind of public relations headache? The pre-order delays have had no effect on Apple's stock, which got a booster shot from news that Apple had seen more than 600,000 iPhone 4 pre-orders the first day they were made available.

Apple on Wednesday apologized to users for the technical issues, saying in a statement that the 600,000 pre-ordered iPhones were "the largest number of preorders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions."

In its mea culpa, which followed widespread reports of the ordering systems for Apple and AT&T becoming unavailable during the Tuesday pre-order period, Apple urged customers to try again. Apple confirmed earlier this week that pre-ordered iPhones would ship July 2, not June 24 as originally planned, and on Thursday pushed that date further out, to July 14.

But any difficulties caused by the pre-order system glitches haven't translated to lost market confidence. Apple's stock price hit an all-time high during Thursday trading, reaching $272.90 a share in the mid-morning hours before a small retreat in the afternoon.

Shaw Wu, an analyst with Kaufman Bros., was among a parade of analysts championing Apple's strength. Apple's "momentum appears beyond our bullish expectations," wrote Wu in a Thursday research note.