Apple Inc (AAPL)

He's looking for GARP. Even with the pullback, this name's trading at a high 20s PE for single-digit growth. Hasn't brought AI into the structure very well. 

Concerned about its hardware business versus its recurring-revenue services business. Trouble with its 30x PE multiple for mid-high, single-digit revenue growth. Partnering with GOOG to roll out intelligence services on new products. Doesn't meet his price target upside.

If you don't own, don't buy. Street has another 10% upside from current price, so hold if you already have it.

He bought it Feb. 11, then sold it Feb. 12. He got stopped out. He won't buy it back. He's traded it twice already.

Adding for new clients. Long-term weekly charts slope upwards, with price well above. Long-term, the name continues to look good. Expect volatility from time to time. AI strategy is evolving. Services growth and recurring revenue continue strong, as are cashflow and balance sheet.

Bought it back personally on momentum. This may not match last August's momentum, but expects it break above $288.

The Mag 7 will continue to weaken. Has owned Apple a long time. Let the stock breathe a little. Would not buy today.

It reported last week blow-out iPhone sales and great numbers from China. They guided strong gross margins this quarter. After being flat, shares have risen 8.45% since. It helps that they're not spending a ton on building data centres simply by partnering with Google Gemini.

it just reported a terrific quarter. It won't be brought down by the price of memory or anything. It's stronger than that. Revenues were up 16% and for the first time reported great sales in China, up 38%. 

We still haven't seen an AI plan, and so she's pretty negative on the stock. As we go further into the cycle and the data centre drives prices for things like memory, component costs for AAPL will start to increase significantly. That's a risk. Pretty high growth margins means it would still be profitable.

Expectations are very low, so earnings could surprise to the upside. But to get excited long term, need to see progress on positioning in AI.

It reports Thursday. Is -2.8% over the last 3 months, partly because of the soaring cost of memory chips. What gross margins can they generate? How strong are iPhone sales? What is their AI strategy?

AAPL has been on a solid uptrend since the summer of 2025, and it rose into early December while most large-cap tech names were flat into that month. There was some profit-taking in December on names that had a strong 2025, and AAPL was likely one of those names. Some analysts cited valuation concerns early this year, and that created some headwinds for the name, and there was some general rotation to start the year as small-caps outperformed mega-cap tech stocks. Its earnings are later this week, and we think that any news on its AI strategy, China smartphone demand, or growth in its services segment can be potential catalysts for the name. We like the name over a long-term horizon, but it has evolved into more of a defensive name, versus a large-cap tech growth stock.
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It reports Thursday. The stock is down the last 8 weeks. Apple needs memory storage, but prices are now high, so they have to pay up for it. He still thinks: own Apple, don't trade it. But if Apple guides lower, the share decline isn't over.

Starting to see some profit-taking, at least that's what it looks like so far. What to watch for technically is $250, a nice round number and the previous peak. If it starts taking out $250, and falling below $245, that's a sign of deeper trouble. Right now, still looks to be in a correction.

For new $$, wait to make sure it doesn't keep trending down. There's always a battle between picking up a bargain and catching a falling knife.

He's betting it will underperform in 2026, and wishes he owned no shares. It trades at 33x forward PE and projected to grow 8% EPS in coming year. Maybe 12% if they get AI right. Not impressed.