Apple

Buy Apple Stock for Dividends?

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Well, here’s an article I never thought I would write, but is Apple a dividend stock now? Apple’s stock price has been drifting down as of late while investors worry that the company doesn’t have any new amazing products up its sleeve. This worry is particularly curious considering the products the company does have are still market leaders in most categories. And, that those very same products, are almost religiously upgraded by a large number of users every time a new one comes out, especially the company’s most important product, the iPhone. This could be worrying to shareholders if the company was overvalued and priced to perfection, but with a P/E of 10.85, it’s not out of line with other successful technology companies by any stretch of the imagination. Of course, a lot of the concern is simply that the company has grown as much as it can and that there are no more world’s to conquer. This is always and odd fear to me, but I suppose to some it matters. In other words, maybe Apple isn’t a growth stock anymore. And, to a certain kind of investor, the only stocks worth investing in are growth stocks. Apple Dividend Here …

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Tech Earnings and Stock Market Moves

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The U.S. stock market is composed of thousands of stocks. Of course, when it comes to moving the overall market, some stocks matter more than others. The biggest stocks, those in the S&P 500, and those in the Fortune 500, have some of the biggest impacts on the overall stock indexes. However, in most cases, the news that comes out of those companies is relatively expected. The exception to this rule are the technology companies. Unlike, say oil companies, or big manufacturing companies, it isn’t always easy to use the economic information surrounding them to accurately predict what will happen, especially when it comes to earnings reports. And, with those same companies forgoing the usual “guidance” that other companies provide, what happens in tech company earnings can be a true market moving surprise. This week saw a negative report from industry titan IBM. IBM is not only a household name technology company, but it is also the second highest weighted component in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, commonly referred to as The Dow. The company itself is down over 5 percent so far today, and the Dow is down over 1 percent, or more than 150 points. (Also dragging on …

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What Higher Apple Dividend Means for Investors

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I’m a huge fan of higher dividends. I’m less of a fan of share buybacks, but let’s get there in a minute. Apple Raises Dividend Theoretically, owning a stock means owning a part, or share, of a company. However, if you really break it down, being a shareholder means virtually nothing anymore. For example, in business classes around the country they will tell you that as a shareholder, one of your rights of ownership is voting for the company’s Board of Directors. That’s technically true, but these days, that means nothing. Only a certain number of seats are up for election at one time. Only the candidates that the company’s current management wants are on the ballot. In other words, even if you owned 51% of a company’s stock, your ability to vote would take years to actually affect the company. Your actual avenue for affecting any sort of change is the courts. If you don’t get to “own” the company, then what is your stock actually worth? Well, it is an item of limited supply that others believe have value. It’s the same way U.S. currency works, or Bitcoin. The exception is when a company pays a dividend. Then, …

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Apple iPhone 6 Stock Update

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The real information about the possible impact on Apple stock from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus is in last week’s article, but since Apple released some new data, I’ll do a little update here. In particular, I’m going to a take a look at how some of what is “out there” applies to the things we wanted to watch for to see what, if any, impact the new iPhones have Apple stock. If this doesn’t make sense, it’s because you didn’t read the earlier article about whether now is a good time to invest in Apple stock. Go ahead, click the link, read it, and then hit the back button. We aren’t going anywhere 🙂 The original “Apple Event” where the new iPhones, Apple Watch, and Pay Now were announced was September 9th. iPhone Supply – So, we talked about sales of the iPhone. There wasn’t anybody who thought that Apple would sell anything less that “millions” of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The company released data showing just that on Monday. So, how is the supply of iPhones working out? There’s conservative, there’s underestimated, and there’s artificially creating an iPhone shortage. Which one is is? Apple …

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iPhone 6 and Apple Stock

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I wasn’t going to write this post, but I’ve gotten just enough emails and messages on the subject of what the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus means for Apple stock that I thought I’d post some quick thoughts for readers here. First, the old saying in investing is to buy the rumor and sell the news. As with all Wall Street wisdom, this is a gross oversimplification and only partially true. However, consider that the time to buy the POTENTIAL of the new iPhone and Apple Watch was BEFORE the big event. The risk, of course, was that if the information was disappointing, the stock would have likely taken a  downturn. As it was, people, and analysts, seemed pleased with what they saw, and the stock has already reacted positively. What this means, is that if you wanted to invest for the short-term based on the fact that felt Apple’s new technology would be good, you are too late. Now, if you are looking to invest in Apple NOW, for the short-term, your investment will depend on: a) How well the products are received by the real consumer. – Potential risks here involve a new “antenna-gate” type of …

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Apple Earnings Dividends and Stock Split

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Apple is one of those companies that draws more than its fair share of attention. There are both the so-called fanboys, and plenty of haters out there to talk at high volume whenever the company does anything. However, the company is also a key component of the S&P 500 and most NASDAQ indexes. In other words, what Apple does as a publicly traded company matters to your personal finance. Apple 2014 Q2 Earnings You’ve probably seen the news by now. Apple had what many analysts are calling a blockbuster quarter. In particular, analysts were surprised by the increase in Apple’s revenue for the quarter. In a way, this is just further proof that analysts don’t really have any sort of crystal ball that regular investors don’t. Apple long ago stopped giving guidance to Wall Street. Without that guidance, Wall Street really doesn’t have a clue how things are going for Apple beyond what things like channel checks can tell them. If you want to read about Apple’s second quarter earnings, there are several reasources including Marketwatch, and Apple’s investor relations website. However, for long-term investors in Apple stock, the quarterly earnings are not the story. What is the story is …

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What Is Going On with Apple Stock?

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There has been a lot of news about Apple stock lately. From the company’s swoon from an Apple stock price in the 700s down to the 400s in just months, to the company’s recent earnings report, to the new Apple plan to issue debt to pay shareholders dividends and buyback stocks. Is this good news for Apple? Is Apple stock a good investment now, or is this all a prelude to a big Apple stock price crash? What’s Wrong with Apple Stock? Years ago when I was a financial planner in Denver, I advised a lot of people who worked at Qwest. For those of you who don’t remember how the internet bubble worked, it went a little something like this. First, people decided that the internet was an amazing new technology. They weren’t wrong. Then, they decided that every company that had ANYTHING to do with the internet was therefore a great investment. This was very wrong. Qwest provided a certain kind of telecommunications link that was very important to the internet. It used its stock to buy a “real” company with real earnings, namely US West before the whole internet bubble blew up. During the good ride, it …

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Amazon Stock vs Apple Stock

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The stock market does not always make a lot of sense, especially over the short-term. Stock price changes occur for silly reasons a lot of times, whether a news event around the world, or the comments of a TV personality. I think perhaps the most instructive lesson comes from the fictional movie Wall Street where you can hear the financial news on a TV in the background explaining what happened with Blue Star Airlines stock, which, of course, is not at all what happened. However, over the long-term, the stock market tends to shake off the manufactured volatility from trading programs and over/under reaction to news and eventually move stocks in the general vicinity of where they should actually be priced. This can take a very long time; witness the completely irrational internet bubble of the late 90s, which lasted years. What makes trading stocks so tricky is that it doesn’t matter if you are right. All that matters is what everyone else thinks is right. Amazon vs Apple Earnings and Stock Prices One of the latest head scratchers that has everyone talking is what happened with Amazon’s stock price and Apple’s stock price following their earnings announcements and press …

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Apple Earnings Miss Panic?

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Apple (AAPL) reported its third quarter earnings on Tuesday and was promptly hammered with downgrades and negative financial news articles. This morning, the stock is down nearly five percent. Is it time to sell Apple stock? See here for the Finance Gourmet’s analysis of Microsoft’s first quarterly loss. Apple’s Earnings Facts It seems that Apple has maybe gotten too good at living up to people’s expectations. Last year’s iPhone release of a modestly upgraded iPhone 4S, which basically was a small upgrade that added the voice assistant Siri. That, plus Apple’s track record of releasing a new iPhone roughly once per year, has left many iPhone buyers waiting for the still unannounced iPhone 5. All of those customers not buying iPhones this quarter dented Apple’s earnings. Concerned about whether Credit Karma is a scam? Here is where things get a little weird. Everyone already knew that the demand for iPhone 4 was lessening in the face of increasing belief that the next iPhone was just a few months away. Couple that with the 2-year contracts that the carriers slap on every new iPhone purchase and you get people who don’t want to get “stuck” with the “old” iPhone when the …

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Apple Earnings Good or Bad?

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Apple reports earnings on April 24. This report is actually for earnings from the 2nd quarter of Apple’s fiscal year, even though corporations on a calendar year are reporting first quarter earnings right now. (Several tech companies reported earnings last week.) After a rough week for the company in the headlines, these earnings will likely be used as a gauge for the short-term future of Apple stock. Recently, Apple has been the subject of legal action from the Justice Department regarding alleged price-fixing for ebooks. Although this makes up a tiny portion of Apple’s revenue, it is a major key in how the Apple store works. If there is a problem with this model for books, there could conceivably be issues in other markets as well. What is not in doubt is that Apple will continue to dominate the tablet computer market and that its prolific iPhone will continue to be a huge player in the smartphone market. There is little doubt among analysts that things in the marketplace look good for Apple in both the short and long-term. In fact, the only real question about Apple stock these days seems to be whether the company’s shares have risen too …

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