Apple Inc (AAPL)

There were reports last week of slowing iPhone production. It is probably a trading stock now. The uptrend has ended. Until it breaks out, he would look at trading it. The bigger trend is not all that positive right now.

He was pounding the table at $85. He thinks their earnings will be good and they will buy back a tone of stock. Expect a dividend increase. $160 model price. A good value name to hold in your portfolio.

The next product cycle will be starting in September. Until then, you are facing really tough comparable sales numbers, and he wouldn’t be surprised to see the stock consolidate a little. He likes tech, this company, management and the product line up. You don’t need to jump the gun on this one.

The dividend is projected to be 2% this year. He thinks it will go up this year. He has held this for a long time even though he is not a buy and hold guy. It is reaching a resistance level. He is looking for an opportunity to take profits.

He likes this. When it gets up, he trims his position, and then buys back when it drops in price. This has a low PE and they have tons of cash. Feels that in September they are going to have a new release of an iPhone which, after 2 years, will have a good refresh cycle. If this sold off, he would be a buyer.

Analysts are looking at $120-$150 as targets. He would lighten up on market strength here.

Still one of the great stocks out there. A device company, but if it was the only device company going forward, then there would be a lot to worry about. They are building such a strong ecosystem of IOS software to become independent, and that is the future of this company. If you take out the cash, it is trading at about 9X earnings, making it exceptionally cheap for one of the greatest growth companies over the past few decades.

The verdict on the watch is still out. He does not see people wearing it. He wonders where the innovation is now with Steve Jobs gone. The iPod has peaked, as has the tablet. So he does not have an interest in the stock.

(Market Call Minute.) A pretty cheap stock, but the difficulty is that it is the biggest stock in the world, and how much bigger does it get.

It struggled over the last year. The main challenge is that for the first quarter since ’03 they forecast a decline in revenues. Will growth if iPhone picks up in Asia and new products gain traction. He feels that with the cash they have it is a buy. They are in a position to grow their dividend. Don’t get scared of recent volatility. The strategy is that they can create excitement with their new releases of iPhone.

They have a lot of cash and trade at a pretty low multiple. They are a technology company and have to continue to innovate. There is still a lot of replacement demand for the iPhone in the US, but in China there are a lot of substitutes and the Chinese have to buy their phone outright. She wants more visibility going forward on earnings growth.

This has had a nice pullback. Trading at $101.03, and his model price is $146.06, a 44% upside. This is the #1 weighted stock in the S&P 500. Dividend yield of 2.06%.

A tale of 2 time periods. Short-term they are running into competition. They put up some truly phenomenal comps, and they are heavily reliant on the product cycle. IPhone 7 is coming out in September, which is a period where you have not only lapped challenging comparison sales numbers, but at the same time you have a new product launch coming. Until then, it is a bit of a tough story. Likes the company and likes management. Doesn’t feel you need to rush into this, but likes the stock long-term.

She is curious about what is going to happen and is watching from the sidelines. We are now getting into a replacement cycle, where everybody already has the product, so instead of growing into new demand, you are essentially replacing what you had. She doesn’t like betting on the consumer.

Has been painted with a brush of being a hardware company that might disappear because some kid in a garage might come up with something better. This is basically why hardware companies tend to be assigned lower valuations. They are working hard towards building a services business with recurring revenue where there is more certainty. About 10% of their business now is Apple Music, Apple pay, etc. and these are applications that he thinks will have more traction in the future. The one thing that has hurt is the success of the iPhone. About a 3^rd of their total market capitalization is in cash.