Apple Inc (AAPL-Q)

He trimmed just the other day by about 25%. Still likes the company, just not the valuation.

Screens well. Fantastic balance sheet, loads of cash. Stock's performing decently. Probably won't see same earnings growth rate as other mega-cap names. Perhaps 10-15% growth, not bad, but other names are higher.

He's benchmark-weighted this name. It's dangerous to go against a stock that has this kind of cash balance. Also, they buyback shares on earnings. (Hit a record high today.)

He always says, own, don't trade this, but if you are overweight this, the sell it down to a 5% weighting in your portfolio.

It keeps rallying along with other big tech stocks. Just hit new highs. We can't live without their phones, because they are so great. He expects the current Dept. of Justice lawsuit against Apple for monopolizing phones will be overturned under the new White House. Today, Apple announce a new IOS. Shares are up 28% this year.

No, own it, don't trade it. Yes, it's expensive historically, but Apple tends to then issue good news. As for China, LULU just announced good numbers out of China, and the Chinese government will do some stimulus. Apple will get through this period. At least, hold Apple and see what happens.

Great and innovative company, ubiquitous. The Mag 7 names he owns have better growth prospects. Diversified away from the iPhone, but still very levered to the its replacement cycle. China sales are a big driver, and have not been great. Upgrades no longer as compelling.

Fortress cash on balance sheet. Not a super-demanding valuation. Won't fall off a cliff, but organic growth challenged.

Don't listen to him, listen to Warren Buffett. Warren's been selling pretty aggressively. It's been fantastic, but there are cheaper alternatives in the group with more growth potential. Still over 30x PE. iPhone is a mature business. Move out of the position, or reduce your weight a bit.

AI will benefit other mega-caps more. Despite litigation, he can get GOOG for under 20x PE, and it has better growth and ancillary assets. Same with META. See his Top Picks.

Compounding machine. Prices keep going up for iPhones, and they keep finding ways to extract more $$ from customers each month. A bit worried about anti-trust and tariffs. China is an additional risk, though Chinese business has been performing well despite the weakness there.

For the price you're paying for earnings growth of about 10%, there are more exciting names in the internet-focused area such as GOOG, AMZN, META and MSFT.

He sold covered calls on Wednesday to ride high volatility. He did it to add some hedging as well as cash flow.

Scores 3/10 for value, but 8/10 in fundamentals. The street sees 8% upside. They last beat earnings, but net income took a hit from a one-time European tax. IPhone sales surged 6% and there's a new IOS 18 update with AI features. All good. Are shifting from hardware to more profitable software, which is smart. She sees upside, but wait for a better entry point.

After they reported, shares went down, which he predicts will settle next week at $210-220. It's only Mag 7 stock that's too expensive. They can't exceed projections for the current quarter.

They report Thursday. The street has been so negative, that Apple will miss (weak iPhone orders, problems with China, competition). But shares have held in. Their report has to be perfect, though.

Shares are fairly or over-valued. He likes Apple. But most of their profits come from hardware, which offer thinner margins than software or cloud margins. Trades at a high 30x-plus PE, which means the earnings stream must grow by 25-30%. It will grow, but by that much?