“Given the fact one of the first posts I submitted for this blog was titled, ‘Why Apple Is Worth At Least $650,’ I couldn’t help but question a recent article saying Apple won’t hit $700 again. While it’s true my original post was from January of 2012, I figured roughly a year later is as good a time as any to revisit my original conclusion,” Chad Henage writes for The Motley Fool. “In the article called, ‘4 Reasons Why Apple Won’t See $700 Again,’ the author makes four points to show why Apple won’t reach its prior levels.”
• Slowing Growth In Phones: “Growth in phones is slowing as competition increases.” Since the iPhone lineup makes up 56% of Apple’s total revenue, a slowdown could cause the company’s revenue and earnings growth to change dramatically. However, when it comes to the mobile phone market, Apple is actually gaining market share on a global basis.
• Shrinking Margins: The author suggests that Apple’s margins are shrinking because customers are choosing the cheaper iPhone 4 and 4S models over the iPhone 5. In addition, the iPad Mini is cannibalizing sales of the full sized iPad. One of these issues is real, the other is not.
• Apple Is A Blue Chip And That’s A Problem How? I won’t address the article’s third issue, which was the loss of Steve Jobs, because it is what it is. No one can argue Steve Jobs was a brilliant mind, but nothing said about this would be productive… The author seems to assume that a fast growing company can’t pay a dividend or buy back shares. The truth is, Apple is being treated much worse than a blue chip stock.
Read more in the full article here.