Despite recent rumors, talk about Steve Jobs‘ demise have turned out to be greatly exaggerated. On the contrary to what’s been said in hushed tones around the office water cooler, Jobs lives.
That has allowed for a giant sigh of relief. . . breathed not only by Mr. Jobs, but by his obsessive Apple shareholders, who had to wonder what the company would look like without him.
Fortunately for everyone involved, a liver transplant two months ago has returned the rockstar CEO to the company he founded with Steve Wozniak in 1975. This has put an end to speculation that a much thinner Jobs had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
In fact, since the news of Jobs’ surgery broke on April 1, the only speculation has been in shares of Apple stock. They are up 45% since the deathwatch effectively ended.
Steve Who?: A Stellar Apple Quarter
But with or without the popular CEO, Apple Inc. turned in a great quarter. In Job’s absence, the technology giant reported its second-best results ever for a quarter that didn’t include the Christmas season.
Revenue was up 12% for the quarter from a year ago, as consumers bought iPhones and Mac’s at holiday volume.
And while Mac sales led the quarter, iPhone sales were what turned most people’s heads. In all, the company sold 5.2 million of the hot gadgets during the quarter, bringing in $1.7 billion in revenue.
Sales of the smartphone were so strong Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer commented, “We are unable to make enough to meet demand.”
On the flip side, however, sales of the company’s iPod were anemic, falling 7% from the first quarter. Sales of the iconic iPod dropped to 10.2 million from 11 million a year ago, as the movement towards phones that play music gathered steam.
Additionally, iPod sales fell even as Apple lowered their prices, prompting a course of speculation that the iPod growth story is now dead.
This notion has given the company yet another layer of doubt, leaving investors to worry whether the demise of the iPod is as exaggerated as that of its founder’s condition and future with Apple. In the meantime, that prospect — coupled with Apple’s quick rise from the bottom — has investors wondering whether or not shares of the company have topped.
And in this free six-page report, The Wealth Advisory research team has broken down the tech giant, answering the question on every investor’s mind these days. . .
Is Apple Inc. Stock (AAPL) a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
In this free report, Wealth Daily subscribers will receive:
· The results from The Wealth Advisory‘s proprietary scoring model
· A buy, sell, or hold recommendation
· A 12-month Price Target along with a current Stop/Loss
· A technical and fundamental analysis of the company’s share price
· And much more. . .
To receive a free download of this report and our Buy, Sell, or Hold recommendation for Apple Inc., click here.
I hope you enjoy your free Apple Inc. report. . . I’ll be publishing more of these in the weeks to come.
Your bargain-hunting analyst,
Steve Christ, Investment Director
The Wealth Advisory
PS. If you enjoyed this report, a subscription to The Wealth Advisory may just be the difference in a gain or loss for you in this year’s market. In the last 16 months, The Wealth Advisory is 30 to 10 in closed postions earning 676% in net gains. But that is just the beginning. . . As a disaster in commercial real estate continues brewing, we’ve identified four ways to earn big profits from the decline. To learn more about these opportunites, click here.
