Robert DeFrancesco’s
TechStockProspector.com
January 24, 2012
Apple (AAPL) Shares Surge on Blowout Quarter
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tech-Stock Prospector is now available in the Amazon.com Kindle Store in the
Business & Investing section of the online magazine stand.
Here’s the Kindle link: http://www.amzn.com/B004T6Z0ME
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apple (AAPL, $452.15 after hours) shares surged 7.5% in after-hours trading
following the blowout fiscal Q1 (December) results.
Per-share earnings of $13.87 came in well above the consensus estimate of $10.08
and revenue of $46.3 billion easily beat the consensus of $39 billion. It is so rare to
see a company put up such a remarkable quarterly performance.
I was particularly impressed with the iPad sales figure of 15.43 units in the face of
increased competition from the Kindle Fire.
But the most impressive sales number: 37 million iPhones. At most, Wall Street was
looking for 35 million units, but many analysts did not think iPhone unit sales would
even reach the 30-million mark. And keep in mind that Apple just launched in China,
where demand “has been staggering,” according to CEO Tim Cook.
When I last updated my Apple valuation analysis, I used a fiscal 2012 (Sept.) EPS
estimate of $36.50 (the consensus estimate before this earnings report was $35.39)
and a forward P/E of 14.5 to generate a fair-value price target of $529.
Given that the fiscal Q1 EPS figure beat the consensus estimate by a whopping $3.79
a share, it’s obvious that my price target will be ratcheted upward.
For more on the tech sector, see the January 2012 issue of Tech-Stock Prospector,
which is now available at TechStockProspector.com (subscription required) and in
the Amazon.com Kindle store.
We offer 30-day trial subscriptions, including daily Web updates, for just $47.
Here are some of the topics covered in the January 2012 issue:
*Hot tech trends for 2012
*4 cloud software buyout targets
*A winning play in storage
*Benefiting from the 4G upgrade cycle
*Google valuation analysis update
*Akamai investors applaud the Cotendo purchase
*Tibco Software tops expectations
*Red Hat expands its reach
*Buy Zynga on the dip?
*Acme Packet hits an air pocket
*Battleground stock for 2012: Salesforce.com
*Money Manager Focus: Seeing value in SGI
*How Ariba drives B2B commerce
*IPO Focus: Jive Software
*TSP Deal Report: A look at privately held Splunk
To place an order, simply call TSP Customer Service at 800-392-0998 or visit
TechStockProspector.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tech-Stock Prospector is now available in the Amazon.com Kindle Store in the
Business & Investing section of the online magazine stand.
Here’s the Kindle link: http://www.amzn.com/B004T6Z0ME
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tech-Stock Prospector Managing Editor Rob DeFrancesco has more than 20
years of experience covering the tech sector. He is a former senior writer with
Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street.
TechStockProspector.com, launched in 2003, is an investment-research service
focused primarily on the networking, storage, security, wireless and software
sectors. Annual subscription: $350.
For more information or to place an order, call 800-392-0998.