Apple (AAPL) 05 (Aug 18 - Dec 24)

Apple (AAPL) 05 (Aug 18 - Dec 24)

Postby winston » Wed Aug 15, 2018 2:57 pm

Public to Private Companies - Apple

In a way, it’s like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has already decided it wants to be on the list of private companies. It doesn’t make splashy M&A purchases, rakes in billions of dollars in profit each quarter and has massive free-cash flow.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BRK.B) is a huge buyer of Apple too. The Oracle of Omaha continues to gobble up millions of shares, buying over 75 million in the first quarter of 2018.

It’s now his largest position and given that Berkshire has more than $100 billion to invest, Buffett may just keep going where he feels most comfortable.

One reason he likes Apple? Its buyback, which is like a silent, unannounced go-private move. After mopping up billions in stock already, in May the tech giant announced a $100 billion repurchase plan.

That was fueled by the new tax system, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple buy back at least $100 billion each year going forward.

Keep in mind, it just hit a $1 trillion market cap — not that InvestorPlace readers should be surprised. Even at today’s valuation, Apple’s still buying back 10% of the float. On a deep correction, it’s an even larger percentage.

As that buyback continues, the company will eventually retire a bulk of the stock, driving shares higher and higher. It’s like an unofficial privatization bid.

Source: Investor Place
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:29 am

Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy: Apple (AAPL)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is now by far and away Buffett’s largest investment.

After missing the tech sector rally (Buffett recently admitted that he “blew it” by not investing in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) earlier), the Oracle of Omaha has been busy plowing money into AAPL.

Following a 5% increase of AAPL shares, Buffett now holds over $46 billion in AAPL stock. This is about 24% of the total portfolio. Interestingly, it also means Buffett now owns almost 5% of Apple stock.

“I clearly like Apple. We buy them to hold,” Buffett told CNBC in May. “We bought about 5 percent of the company. I’d love to own 100 percent of it. … We like very much the economics of their activities. We like very much the management and the way they think.”

And the stock also has the Street’s seal of approval. “Despite Apple achieving the $1 trillion milestone last week, we continue to believe Apple remains one of the most underappreciated stocks in the world with a valuation that remains depressed (13.7x our CY:19 EPS estimate, ex-cash)” cheers top Monness analyst Brian White (Profile & Recommendations).

He added: “Now, Apple is heading into the seasonally strongest time of the year with a new iPhone cycle on the horizon.” Indeed, White’s $275 price target indicates big upside potential of 31%.

In total, however, the stock has a “moderate buy” analyst consensus rating. This is with a $214 price target. See what other Top Analysts are saying about AAPL.

Source: Investor Place
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:31 pm

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What should investors not own?

Apple. People think of Apple as the poor man’s technology stock. At 16 times forward earnings, it is cheap, compared with Facebook [FB] and Netflix [NFLX].

But Apple isn’t a technology company. It’s a consumer-electronics company, and consumer-electronics companies have lots of hits and misses.

Second, you want to be wary of a company that is losing its competitive advantage. The definition of a franchise isn’t just having a competitive advantage, but building on it and sustaining it. Apple is the opposite of that.

When the iPhone came out in 2009, it was revolutionary. It offered tremendous differentiation. Fast-forward nearly a decade, and the iPhone X was a commercial flop. Consumers didn’t see value in an incremental upgrade.

Apple is losing its competitive edge. Other companies were first to market with beveled-edge screens and other innovations. When you offer a high-end phone, you need high-end differentiation. Apple doesn’t have it anymore.

In emerging markets, this phone is so overpriced. The per capita income isn’t there to support this phone. And other players are coming up with neat phones at a very competitive price.

Even though Apple had a bad quarter in terms of revenue, they announceda bazooka of a share buyback—$100 billion—which is why earnings per share came up. That’s what IBM [IBM] did not that long ago; General Electric [GE] did the same thing. That is financial engineering. You can only kick the can down the road for so long.

So would you recommend shorting Apple?

There are better shorts out there. Apple is still a net cash company. When you short, you don’t have to just know if it will go down, but when it will go down.

Source: Barron's

https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-tw ... 20Magazine
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:25 pm

Why Apple Stock Could Be In for a Clobbering

ByTeresa Rivas

The market is going longer between glitzy new phones.

Next year will be a lean year, thanks to the iPhone X's popularity, and while other products in its portfolio will soften the blow a bit.


Source: Barron's

https://www.barrons.com/articles/why-ap ... yptr=yahoo
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Sun Sep 09, 2018 9:17 am

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FAANG Stocks: Apple (AAPL)

The first $1 trillion U.S. stock was suffering a drop out of a week-long consolidation range on Thursday, setting up a test of the 50-day moving average that held throughout June and July.

Shares rallied roughly 20% from their late July levels on growing excitement over the coming iPhone refresh later this year (iPhone X form factor top to bottom).

But worries are growing on possible exposure to the worsening U.S.-China trade situation, including critical supply chain linkages and end market linkages.

The company will next report results on Oct. 30 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of $2.76 per share on revenues of $61.1 billion.

When the company last reported on July 31, earnings of $2.34 beat estimates by 16 cents on a 17.3% rise in revenues.

Source: investor Place
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:16 pm

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is now by far and away Buffett’s largest investment

Following a 5% increase of AAPL shares, Buffett now holds over $55 billion in AAPL stock. This is about 24% of the total portfolio. Interestingly, it also means Buffett now owns almost 5% of Apple stock.

“I clearly like Apple. We buy them to hold,” Buffett told CNBC in May. “We bought about 5 percent of the company. I’d love to own 100 percent of it …

We like very much the economics of their activities. We like very much the management and the way they think.”

And the stock also has the Street’s seal of approval. “Despite Apple achieving the $1 trillion milestone last week, we continue to believe Apple remains one of the most underappreciated stocks in the world with a valuation that remains depressed (13.7x our CY:19 EPS estimate, ex-cash)” cheers top Monness analyst Brian White (Profile & Recommendations).

He added: “Now, Apple is heading into the seasonally strongest time of the year with a new iPhone cycle on the horizon.” Indeed, White’s $275 price target indicates big upside potential of 24%.

In total, however, the stock has a “moderate buy” analyst consensus rating. This is with a $214 price target. See what other Top Analysts are saying about AAPL.

Source: Investor Place
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:51 pm

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Apple iPhone sales disappoint, but selling prices were way up

by Daniel Howley

Apple (AAPL) reported its Q4 2018 results on Thursday, and the numbers were mixed. Following the earnings report, Apple’s market cap fell below the $1 trillion mark.

In the quarter, Apple sold 46.9 million iPhones versus analysts’ expectations of 48.4 million handsets. Apple sold 46.8 million smartphones in the same quarter last year.

Earnings came in at $2.91 per share on revenue of $62.9 billion. That beats analysts’ expectations of $2.78 earnings per share on revenue of $61.4 billion.

The average selling price for iPhones beat expectations, rising 41% to $793. Analysts had called for $729. The iPhone’s ASP is an important indicator of the kind of iPhones people bought in the quarter.

A higher ASP means customers purchased more high-end handsets such as the iPhone X and the newer XS and XS Max, versus less expensive models like the older iPhone 8 and iPhone 7.

During Apple’s investors call, executives said they will no longer be providing unit numbers for iPhone, iPad and Mac, removing a key metric for investors to track device demand.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri explained the change saying that unit sales don’t provide a clear picture of the company performance.

“We’re thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

Apple’s increasingly important Services segment saw revenue of $9.98 billion versus $8.5 billion during Q4 2017. That’s a new all-time high for the business.

Apple’s services, which includes iTunes, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Pay and Apple Care, has been growing for years and could become the company’s main revenue generator as iPhone sales plateau.

Apple’s iPad sales and revenue were down both year-over-year and sequentially. But with the release of two new iPad Pros with edge-to-edge displays on October 30th, that could change in Q1 2019.

Source: Yahoo Finance

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-ip ... 21425.html
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:38 pm

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Apple Posts Strong Q4 Earnings Beat, iPhone Sales Miss Expectations

by Hannah Genig

Apple Posts Strong Q4 Earnings Beat, iPhone Sales Miss Expectations

AAPL unveiled its newest line of products, including an upgraded MacBook Air, Mac Mini and iPad Pro.

Despite the plateau of iPhones sales over time, the move towards Apple’s most expensive product line seems to be paying off, as Apple reported earnings of $2.91 per share, beating estimates of $2.78.

Q4 Highlights

Sales totaled $62.9 billion, which beat estimates of $61.48 billion by 2.31 percent. This represented an increase of 21.1 percent from Q4 2017.

iPhone unit sales totaled 46.9 million, which increased 29 percent year-over-year but slightly missed analysts expectations of 47.5 million.

The average selling price (ASP) of the iPhone is $793, up from $617.99 a year ago.

iPad unit sales amounted to 9.69 million, down 6 percent year-over-year.

Mac unit sales were 5.29 million, down 2 percent year-over-year.

Q4 unit sales increased 20 percent year-over-year, or 18 percent sequentially.

Apple sees Q1 sales in a range of $89-$93 billion against a $92.91 billion estimate. The company sees Q1 gross margin 38-38.5 percent.

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“We’re thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said CEO Tim Cook. “[W]e enter the holiday season with our strongest lineup of products and services ever.”

Apple shares closed up 1.54 percent at $222.22. Shares were down about 3.7 percent in after-hours trading.

Source: Benzinga

https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/ ... i=67186364
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Sat Nov 03, 2018 7:46 am

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Apple Stock: Watch Where the Next Trillion Comes From

It’s strange that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is so seldom listed among blue-chip investments, because under CEO Tim Cook it has become the best one in the world.

Sure, the 73 cent quarterly dividend yields just 1.37%, but the stock’s value has nearly tripled in the last five years. This is the most valuable company in the world, with an estimated $244 billion of cash on hand, even as it buys back shares, raises the dividend, and insists it will contribute $350 billion to the economy due to tax cuts.

I am also very impressed with Cook’s own product innovations, like the Apple Watch. Best of all, Cook succeeds without turning his customers’ data into advertising fodder.

The P/E ratio is 17. but take out the cash and it’s about 15, which is dirt cheap. If that’s not a blue chip I don’t know what is.

Source: Investor Place
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Re: Apple (AAPL) 04 (Mar 01 - Dec 18)

Postby winston » Sat Nov 03, 2018 11:18 am

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What Is Apple Hiding?

The company’s new policy will be to give us revenue numbers – neatly hiding and obscuring the fact total numbers might be dropping and are being compensated by Apple’s policy of constantly upping the cost; like charging $200 more for the latest iPad(the new one with added gripping hand action).

So numbers sold will drop, prices will keep rising.. and revenues will look ok.. right up to what I now call the Apple Event Horizon…


Source: TTR

http://www.thetradingreport.com/2018/11 ... le-hiding/
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