Apple Inc (AAPL)

Really positive on the stock. The split is helpful. New phone and potential new products. Generally thinks it is due for a good refresh cycle. Great balance sheet.

She got out of it because the handset business was commoditized. They split their stock and are buying some back. There is some momentum on the release of new products. Don’t buy because it is close to all time highs. The old tech stocks are rather mature so she recognizes that much of their growth is behind them. Social media stocks are hard to buy for a value investor.

Google (GOOGL-Q) or Apple (AAPL-Q)? Given this choice, he would pick Google. On a balance sheet level, etc., they are very similar. Google is a software company whereas Apple gets about 60% of their revenue off of one product, the iPhone. There has not been a real product from them for a long, long time. Also, this company has gone up a lot more, but that has to do more with financial engineering, as opposed to anything else.

They did the stock split. 20% upside to get to its model price. iPhone 6 is coming with two different sized screens. He already got in. It is consolidating here.

Believes this is as good a company as many others and should trade at a premium to the S&P 500 multiple on earnings. $115-$120 is where fair value is. Good things happen to companies that generate this much free cash flow.

Compared this with the QQQ-Q on a 3-year chart, and it showed Apple as a huge Outperform in 2012. Gap was closed in 2013, but is now again trying to outperform. Keep an eye on that peak in 2012, which seems to be the target for it. He would be careful. It could be a double top. You want it to clear the high of 2012, by at least 5% on a weekly basis, to confirm that it has broken out to new highs.

Thinks they are really changing their whole structure. Took over the music thing of Dr. Dre about a month ago. They are forming into some kind of an entertainment company, and is completely different than it was a year ago. They are now paying a dividend, and we have always known that when it comes to tech companies paying dividends; it means they don’t know what to do with their cash. Maybe there is not a big R&D component anymore.

It is his longest holding. It is cheaper than 90% of the S&P market. They are getting into music streaming. The stock can continue to do well, although not a 30% grower – more like 10-15% growth. Two new phones coming out could be a catalyst. The iWatch should help also. Continue to hold it until the new phones come out at least.

It appears that it just wants to keep chugging along. Great company and good products.

More of a value kind of stock and is with the Microsofts (MSFT-Q), Intels (INTC-Q), etc. Not an expensive valuation. They have been doing some financial engineering such as issuing bonds, paying dividends and buying back stocks.

(Market Call Minute.) He is a Seller. Had a nice rebound after its troubles last year. He questions how big they can get and how long they can sustain the margins they are generating today

Stock is splitting on Monday, and he sees no reason to buy it today because of that. The company has tremendous potential. Just unveiled some new software that he thinks will keep people further and further into the whole of the Apple system. Have increased compatibility among their devices. There are rumours today that iWatch has started for a September release, and it is almost inevitable that we are going to see a larger iPhone 6 in September/October, which will be a boon for their Christmas sales.

Forgetting about the balance sheet strength that they have, people are focused that they have no new products. What they do is invest their time and money in trying to think of where new opportunities may be coming, but they make sure their ecosystem and software is cutting edge. That keeps people using their technology and hardware. They are able to attract good talent to develop good products. Continue to innovate and have so many different ways to be part of your daily life. Trading at 14X earnings and is probably going to grow at about 10% per year.

Buy more Qualcomm (QCOM-Q) or go to Apple (APPL-Q)? Diversification is always a good thing. What percentage of Qualcomm makes up your portfolio? Without that info, he prefers to give just a broad answer to the question. Apple has lots of legs, and is being driven by a few things including first and foremost, innovation. There has been a lot of talk that innovation is dead at Apple. Looking back to the time between the interaction of the iPod, the introduction of the iPhone, followed by iPad, we are really not out of sync so much. Apple is primed for a very big jump if and when they come out with a product that in any way looks like it comes close to the iPod, iPhone and the iPad. If they do, you will see organic growth in earnings and cash flow and revenues rise dramatically. What will really drive the stock is that the multiples will rise because the confidence of the investors will rise to the point that they will be willing to pay more per $ of earnings, being a P/E ratio. Right now the P/E ratio on Apple is quite muted and could rise 25%, 30%, 50%.

This stock has gone nothing, but up since the announcement of the 7 for 1 stock split. By doing this stock split, the company has increased his model price by $120 billion.