Apple shares - Invest or not invest?

IronWolf

Despite all the things I've said about Apple in the past, I now have a small holding in AAPL.

This is a company that continually revolutionises the industry they are in, I expect the Apple television to do the same. What I don't want to see is a budget smartphone which many have been speculating on. Apple needs to keep its reputation as a luxury and expensive brand.

It's far from one of my highest conviction holdings, but I believe at these prices the risk/reward ratio is skewed in the favour of investors. And with shareholder activism high I think it has a good chance of realising its value in the short term too.

There's an article which sums up my opinion on Apple here. If its war chest can be tapped by investors theres big potential there, even if they cant avoid repatriation taxes (if they can then the upside is even greater)

isofa

What many people also forget is the professional market they still operate in: designers, photographers and video creation . Whilst they've not refreshed some of their pro gear in a while, I still know very few people in these industries not using Apple products.

Don't forget they don't just make "fashion" items such as the iPhone, they also make incredibly high quality desktop and laptops. In fact I've been unable to find any quality Windows based laptops to rival the MacBook Pros recently when purchasing them for my business.

I just wish I bought stock when they were on their uppers many years ago, when they agreed to let a few poor companies clone the Mac, I'd be a millionaire now!

maryjanell79

Unfortunately investing in Apple right now is a lot like investing in Gold.......Wish I bought it 10 years ago.

I personally think Apple have peaked and it's time to look for the next "potential" company

sabretoothtigger

Theres no comparison as gold wont be paying you a 3% yield like Apple does.
Any tech company is about potential, why would this one all of a sudden have no potential unless you are referring to Jobs demise

Just sounds like typical home investor thinking, the price is half what it was so Im less interested and dont think they are worth buying now. If only they'd double in price I'd be interested :laugh:
Its the same company as last year pretty much, now it costs less


I think its closer to like Microsoft as Gates left. A cashflow beast, they arent going to disappear now


I do like this part, they are issuing dollar bonds to pay the dividend. Great because the rates they pay are sub inflationary, they are making a profit on their expenses seems very likely.
Anyhow they can easily pay any debt, the only bad scenario is a sustained strong dollar which is incredibly unlikely.
So another reason to invest

http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/apple-inc-aapl-jim-cramer-just-dropped-this-bombshell-126593/2/

grey_gym_sock

i'd certainly much rather buy apple stock than gold ...

i'm not sure if the value case for apple holds up, though. the trouble is that they have both huge market share and massively high prices. to hang on to both, they need to keep their products a long way ahead of of the competition. if they can't, then they'll have to choose between keeping the high market share and keeping the high prices. given their history, they'll presumably opt for the high prices.

Thrugelmir

brasso wrote: »

They've always had competition, and competition has usually spurred them into further innovation.

Apple has always has had a core following for their products. Who are happy to pay over the odds. As yes. there's innovation and design. But the core components are of no better quality. Few companies who manufacture achieve the 50% gross margins that Apple do.

Jobs was a clever man who saw potential in ideas. Xerox's engineering department invented the concept of a mouse 10 years before Apple made it a viable saleable product.

sabretoothtigger

Apple do garner a particular client who are prepared to pay a premium, sometimes that is a wide band of people like happened with ipods.
They can be replaced but that effect is always there or they'd just be another white goods manufacturer
I think Jobs was fairly crucial for insight and direction but I think they'll keep gaining unique developments and selling at premium.
Do they really need anything special now to justify 10 PE


http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/107867/market-too-pessimistic-on-apple.aspx

Cpu2007

I am also interested in investments but unfortunately don't know much about shares/stocks etc.

One piece of information that I have come across repeatedly is that this sort of investment has to be long term in order to gain some profit (not 1 year but like 5-10 years);Many call this an average waiting but I hate to say it but that's a lot haha

However, I do follow technologies and sort of aware of what is going currently with big firms. My question is, what are the steps that I need to follow to invest in tech firms ?


Talking of Apple, although I don't know much about how investments work, I'm aware of how the company's doing.
Is true that there's not much innovation at the moment and if the shares have gone down then I believe is the right time to buy some(or if someone think the will go lower in the next few months then wait and buy later).
The reason why I'm advising to buy shares now that is low is because I believe that apple share gill go high in a few months; this is due to the fact of few technologies that they are about to promote, one of them is watch that many sites are talking about.
I think the watch has a real chance of becoming very popular as it can be used in many situations (navigator,loudspeaker,smart alarms and much more); these features might be implemented but I think from a consumer point of view will definitely be implemented sooner or later(if not in the first watch then in the second)
Having sad that, the chances of shares going high because of these technologies is considerably high.

mania112

I thought of this thread after the recent news:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/12/23/uk-apple-china-mobile-idUKBRE9BL0E920131223

How do people feel about Apple shares now, with this news, and with the performance in the past year(ish) since this thread?