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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pyslent who wrote (169877)	5/28/2014 6:59:00 AM
From: Ryan Bartholomew	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213174

...those of us who aren't technically inclined probably all have a fair market value in mind for the stocks we follow. Apple for a time was trading substantially below mine. That made it a buying opportunity for me. From here, it's a different question. Apple seems fairly valued now, so the risks are greater. Simple as that. Sure, but again, that's opinion. Markets weigh opinions of all types by allowing the interaction of supply/demand. While you and others might have thought $400 was a low-risk bargain of a lifetime, others thought it was a grossly overpriced stock because of the market share, margin, and profit trends. At today's level, it's the same situation... there are many who look at the very low multiple, presume profit growth and big new products on the horizon, and "know" that it's a great deal at $800, let alone $625. And others (like me) are waiting for the iPhone to follow in the footsteps of the iPad and profits start to decline. If you "know" the bearish view is much less likely to pan out than the bullish one, then be rational... gather (and borrow, beg, and steal) every dollar you can and buy some call options! This ongoing commentary about AAPL being "knowable" as a low-risk investment and much more certain to go up than down is nonsense. The market weights all available information and opinions, and there are objective risk metrics that mean a lot more than select opinions.

To: pyslent who wrote (169877)	5/28/2014 6:59:02 AM
From: slacker711	4 Recommendations Recommended By Doren pyslent Ryan Bartholomew Zen Dollar Round Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 213174

The interesting question now is what people plan on doing with the trading shares/options that they may have picked up (or even their long-term position). What kind of PE do you think that Apple can support going forward if they have a "successful" rest of the year. Let's say a scenario where earnings estimates for 2015 go from $47 today to $55. Does the market give a PE of 15 based on that kind of earnings growth, a significant portion of which would be based on a one-time share gain due to the launch of the large screen iPhone? An iWatch is unlikely to have a substantial impact on earnings in the near-term, but it might bring back the aura of innovation around Apple. For most here, I expect that the key decisions around Apple will be if/when to sell over the next six months. Slacker

To: pyslent who wrote (169877)	5/28/2014 8:58:41 AM
From: Moonray	1 Recommendation Recommended By JP Sullivan Respond to of 213174

Apple (AAPL) PT Lifted to $700 at Bernstein; 5 Reasons to Support the Higher Target May 28, 2014 8:39 AM EDT Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi lifted his price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to $700 (from $615.00) Wednesday, while reiterating his Outperform rating. The analyst sees several reasons to continue to be bullish on Apple stock in the near-term. In his report, Sacconaghi listed five reasons for the price target hike: First, the analyst noted that Apple's stock is highly anticipatory around new product cycles, historically outperforming meaningfully (1100 bps) in the two months prior to new iPhone introduction. He also expects Apple will introduce a new product category before year end, which the believe will be an iWatch. Second, he said growth investors are collectively, significantly underweight Apple. "Given Apple's large benchmark weight, we believe that growth investors are likely to close/minimize underweight positions heading into a major product cycle that could trigger upward revisions and investor enthusiasm," he said. Third, he sees Apple's forthcoming stock split as an event that could broaden retail interest and psychologically make it easier for stock price to climb (e.g., $90 to $100, vs. $625 to $700). "Historically, our analysis points to evidence that companies that split their shares outperform in the near-term," he said. Fourth, Sacconaghi sees little risk of Apple missing estimates for the June quarter as not only is it new CFO Luca Maestri's first quarter, but Apple can use price elasticity to boost iPhone sales, as it did last year during the June quarter. Also, has considerable discretionary buyback power that it could use to support the stock following any near-term pullbacks. And finally, the analyst said Apple's valuation at $625 is still very low compared with the market overall and even the broader technology sector, pointing to no near-term "ceiling" on valuation. "Even at a price of $700/share, Apple would trade at ~10x EV/FCF, a valuation that would still imply a modest free cash flow decline in perpetuity," he said. "In essence, we do not believe investors are likely to worry about Apple's valuation level as long as estimates appear likely to increase in the face of positive news flow." o~~~ O

To: pyslent who wrote (169877)	5/28/2014 9:44:08 AM
From: Moonray	Respond to of 213174

Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Top One Billion Units for the First Time, According to IDC 27 Jan 2014 FRAMINGHAM, Mass. January 27, 2014 – The worldwide smartphone market reached yet another milestone, having shipped one billion units in a single year for the first time. According to the International Data Corporation ( IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 1,004.2 million smartphones worldwide, up 38.4% from the 725.3 million units in 2012. This aligns with IDC's most recent forecast of 1,010.4 million units, making for a difference of less than 1%. Smartphones accounted for 55.1% of all mobile phone shipments in 2013, up from the 41.7% of all mobile phone shipments in 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13), vendors shipped a total of 284.4 million smartphones worldwide, up 24.2% from the 229.0 million units shipped in 4Q12. More at: idc.com o~~~ O