There are plenty of reasons to buy Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock here and now.

The company is essentially a pure-play on global consumer electronics demand, which should rebound strongly in the second-half of 2020 as Covid-19 hysteria abates and consumer spending trends across the world recover. At the same time, Apple is launching a highly anticipated 5G iPhone later this year. Demand for that breakthrough device should be quite robust, especially since most consumers have been apparently holding out on upgrading their iPhones for several years until the 5G iPhone came out (for the record, I’m one of those consumers).

Apple’s services business is also on fire. So long as this business keeps firing on all cylinders, the company’s overall revenue growth trajectory will remain robust, margins will keep expanding (since software revenues have higher margins than hardware revenues) and profit growth will remain impressive.

Plus, Apple stock is pretty cheap. At just 24-times forward earnings with 0.9% dividend yield, Apple stock is one of the more attractively valued tech stocks in the market today.

For all those reasons, you probably want to buy and hold this stock into the end of the year.

But now, you also need to add one more catalyst to your list of reasons to buy Apple stock: the launch of Greyhound on Apple TV+ on July 10, which has the potential to be the struggling streaming service’s big breakout catalyst that propels the platform into the forefront of the streaming wars.

Here’s a deeper look.

The “Stranger Things” Moment

Of course, Apple wants Apple TV+ wants to be like Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).

But, what many people forget about Netflix, is that this streaming platform was actually struggling in the mid-2010s. Streaming competition was heating up. In response, Netflix was pouring all of its resources into developing original content. At the time, that was an unproven growth strategy which was simply resulting in huge cash burn without big subscriber growth.

Until Stranger Things.

Stranger Things premiered on Netflix in the summer of 2016. It was a huge hit. Although Netflix already had original content hits like House of Cards in its pipeline, Stranger Things just struck consumers on a different level.

Three months later, Netflix reported third quarter subscriber growth numbers which blew expectations out of the water. The original content strategy had been proven. Netflix’s subscriber growth trajectory — and NFLX stock — took off like a rocket ship. Neither have looked back since.

In other words, Netflix is where it is today — a globally ubiquitous streaming platform — because of one blockbuster hit in the summer of 2016.

Apple stock investors should take note, because Apple TV+ could be on the cusp of having its own “Stranger Things” moment.

Greyhound Could Be “Stranger Things” for Apple TV+

It increasingly appears that Apple TV+’s big breakthrough moment — its “Stranger Things” moment — could happen in the summer of 2020.

Specifically, on July 10, Apple TV+ is set to exclusively debut Greyhound, a World War II film starring Tom Hanks which was originally supposed to launch in theaters but has since signed exclusive distribution agreements with Apple thanks mostly to the Covid-19 pandemic shutting down movie theaters.

This is a big deal. Tom Hanks is a huge actor. Star-powered war movies tend to be huge hits, especially during the summer. The film is also being recommended all across the internet. See here, here, here and here. It’s also being aggressively advertised (I saw at a least a half dozen ads for it this past weekend).

In other words, Greyhound has all the ingredients necessary to turn into a Stranger Things for Apple TV+, and get subscribers onto the platform.

Apple TV+ is a Solid Platform

Of course, Stranger Things led to huge growth for Netflix because, once on the platform, new subscribers fell in love with Netflix’s other original content, and stayed as long-term customers.

The same will be true for Apple TV+, because at $5 per month, the service offers you a lot of bang for your buck.

Specifically, the original content line-up is actually quite good.

There’s the Steve Carell and Jennifer Aniston led drama series, The Morning Show. There’s the Chris Evans led crime thriller series, Defending Jacob, and the Samuel L. Jackson led original film, The Banker. All of those movies and shows got excellent reviews from people who watched them.

Plus, Apple has bought the distribution rights to a highly coveted Will Smith project, Emancipation, and Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

In other words, Apple’s content portfolio is robust enough to keep consumers on its Apple TV+ platform (mostly because Apple has the deepest pockets in the world).

The only challenge has been getting consumers on the platform.

Greyhound could solve that problem.

If it does, then the next few years could represent huge, breakout growth from Apple TV+, the likes of which will help guide Apple stock to new highs.

Bottom Line on AAPL Stock

There are lots of reasons to buy Apple stock.

Until recently, Apple TV+ has not been one of them.

But Greyhound has the potential to do for Apple TV+ in 2020, what Stranger Things did for Netflix back in 2016. If so, then Apple TV+ will grow by leaps and bounds over the next several years, and turn into one of the biggest reasons to buy Apple stock.