Objective measures include... ...extraordinary strength of balance sheet, Apple's premium brand value, its ecosystem of products and services...
Yes.
...its below market multiples on various measures including cash flow and earnings... Multiples matter only relative to future earnings, so it's circular reasoning to say that a multiple is low (i.e., a stock is cheap) because your opinion is that the earnings will be substantial relative to the current price. Specifically, AAPL has a very appealing multiple right now if, in hindsight, they end up growing earnings, say 15%/year for the next few years. It's very expensive right now if their earnings start declining. It's merely opinion how rapidly they'll grow, or whether they will at all in 2015.
Apple has been a tremendous investment over the past 20 months as the market put it on sale.
Over the past ~20 months, AAPL is down ~10% while the index it's in is up ~30% (not factoring dividends). That's a fact. Whether you consider that a "tremendous investment" is mere opinion. |
