AAPL: 10 Things You Missed About Apple Stock

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Another year is well underway, and it’s clearly going to be yet another year that Apple (AAPL) continues to turn heads and steal headlines. AAPL stock is anything but a new kid on the block … but the investing community hasn’t grown sick of discussing Apple stock.

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In case you haven’t had your ear to the ground of late, here’s the most important Apple stock chatter that you’ve missed.

The Apple Stock Rundown

  1. So Far, Not-So-Good — So far in 2015, Apple stock is sitting in the red. Since the start of the year, shares of AAPL have slid almost 3% — about double the slide of the broader Nasdaq.
  2. Say Cheese — Things could be worse, though. Just consider this Apple-related turn of events: GoPro Inc (GPRO) stock fell around 14% last Tuesday after headlines suggested Applewas granted a patent for a GoPro-like wearable sports camera. As InvestorPlace’s John Divine promptly explained, the feature will likely just help enhance the Apple Watch.
  3. What Time Is It? — Speaking of which, there’s lots of great reading out there surrounding the Apple Watch if that topic piques your interest. Two of my personal favorite (and subtle) headlines related to the Apple Watch are “Dead already: Future Apple products never stand a chance” from MacWorld and “Is the ‘Watch’ Apple’s Zune Moment?” from CNBC.
  4. Competition — Another possible concern for Apple stock comes from the threat of competition, especially in China. As Divine also recently explained, “Apple needs to turn its focus to Xiaomi immediately or risk a steep AAPL stock price reduction in coming years as the fast-moving company seizes a greater and greater portion of the global market.”
  5. Earnings — One place to keep an eye on competitors and Apple growth is obviously in the company’s earnings report. Apple, for one, is slated to report earnings on Jan. 27, and analysts have been stepping up their expectations in recent weeks.
  6. Valuation — Of course, Apple’s growth is only important relative to its stock’s pricetag. A recent Motley Fool article thinks Apple stock is still a good buy, but notes it’s “price-to-earnings ratio is at its highest levels since 2011” and that it’s simply not the bargain it once was.
  7. Analyst Love — Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha upgraded Apple stock to “outperform” from “neutral” last Tuesday and boosted his price target to $130 from the previous target of $110 — news that gave shares of AAPL a nice little bump. The analyst also cited expectations that Apple will return more cash to shareholders, on top of strong iPhone sales.
  8. Giving Back — Those expectations for buybacks have been on everyone’s mind. More specifically, the Credit Suisse analyst predicted that Apple could vow to return $202 billion in dividends and buybacks in the next two years.
  9. No. 1 Spot? InvestorPlace advisor Louis Navellier actually believes in stock buybacks so much that he picked Apple to in this year’s Best Stocks for 2015 contest. As he put it, “For 2015, the gadget giant is looking better than ever because it has big plans to reward shareholders handsomely over the next several quarters.”
  10. What’s Next — Ashraf Eassa of The Motley Fool recently wrote that sustained momentum for the iPhone 6 is the “one thing” that needs to happen for Apple stock to hit new all-time highs.

As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/01/aapl-apple-stock-3/.

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