“If there were ever a beleaguered stock, Apple is it,” Darcy Travlos writes for Forbes. “Apple now sits below $400 and has lost 44% since September. Any Apple investor can recite these numbers in their sleep with dismay and confusion. But just days before earnings and at such a depressed level, does an investor buy?”
“In the context of Apple’s history, this quarter will be a good quarter. It is highly possible that Apple will report sales that will be the highest in Second Quarter Fiscal Year history and quite possibly the third or fourth best quarter in the company’s history,” Travlos writes. “Consensus estimates are that Apple will earn $10.01 per share, which is slightly higher than the guidance provided by the company on the last call.”
Travlos writes, “Without any information or signals out of Apple, whether or not to buy on Monday depends on two criteria: valuation versus downside risk and an assessment (WAG) if Apple has anything up their sleeves for the earnings call… As for Monday, buying Apple stock may be an opportunity to call the bottom with limited downside, but buying any stock ahead of an earnings announcement is highly speculative. On the other hand, should Apple signal a cash or product strategy, project a vision or improve communications on its call, then less risk-tolerant investors would want to look at buying Apple after the earnings call to participate in upside for the second half of 2013.”
Read more (Apple TV, iWatch, dividend increase, stock split, etc.) in the full article here.