Apple Inc (AAPL)

Questions on whether iPhone can growth further. Ability to sell services to wide range of customers since everybody owns an iPhone. Very good business. Will hold for the long term. 

It reports Thursday and that could determine what happens in tech until Nvidia reports on Nov. 21. That's how important Apple is. It needs to deliver a good quarter and one that the market will give credit for. But many are betting it will slash its forecast.

He just bought Apple puts. They report next week and he expects their comments to be negative. In China, Huawei is gathering market share from Apple, while Beijing is saying, Don't buy Apple phones. That's why Apple phone production is shifting from China to India. Apple is not showing growth in hardware. Same with services. The stock is overvalued. That said, if share get crushed next week, he would be the first to buy them, because there's an insatiable appetite for them.

He's been writing many calls on this the past 3 months. If this pulls back next Thursday when it reports, he will add to his holding. Earnings may not be great, but he will own this the long term. Also, the PE has declined.

It trades at a premium, because they have durable earnings. It just broke below its 200-day moving average, and she expects weakness going into next Thursday's report. But she would buy on weakness after this report.

There are some increased tensions between the U.S. and China and the latest i-phone is not selling as well as expected. However it has great cash flow and is profitable. It has a good future and upside potential on the services side. You could wait because of the the macro environment.

The chart looks terrible and it can easily go to $165. It's had a good return this year vs. its megatech peers, but she wants to see topline growth. You can't ignore the technical weakness though.

He's been trimming it when it gets expensive, and remains neutral. Apple is a great business, but some of their businesses are decelerrating. They have huge cash balances, though. He's long term.

No question that tensions between the US and China effect Apple. Apple shares are down only 1% this morning. Foxxconn, remember, is a top 10 employer in China and Foxxconn builds a lot of iPhones for Apple. The market knows this. So, Apple is struggling in China? No. Apple remains one of the best-run companies in the world, and they have earned their premium valuation.

When this was reported this morning, the Nasdaq features dipped briefly only. There's enough broad strength in the megatechs that tech will be resilient, even if Apple becomes the weak link among tech.

They've had a wonderful return this year. Pre-Covid topline revenue growth and we're returning to that. (Growth accelerated during Covid.) Note: they keep buying back shares and reducing share count, so EPS keep going up. She's happy to sell her $195 calls. Services and phone sales will be strong.

Apple is purely trading off technicals. Their chart iS perfect. It broke the 50-day moving average in January and September, but fell below it in mid-summer and is currently snapping back.

Revenues have declined in the last three quarters and likely will next quarter. The story is always valuation: 28x forward at only an 8% growth rate long term. This downgrade is a few quarters too late.

Megatech offers investors resilence in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment. Not not-profitable tech or consumer discretionary. Energy is another sector that offers this confidence, but no other sectors.