Submitted by Jon Reed on
After having its strongest November performance ever and then reaching a 52 week high of $577.25 on Thursday, December 5, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stocks came down a bit, ending last week at $554.43. Despite the drop, analysts remain bullish about the company's future.
According to The Motley Fool, Apple still has plenty of room to grow. Stock prices have risen 40% since June yet still remain 20% lower than last year's all time high. The company has also upgraded its product portfolio in recent months with the addition of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. The 5s has been the best selling smartphone for all four major U.S. carriers in each of the past three months, while the 5c has held the second or third spot at each carrier. Additionally, the iPhone has enjoyed success in foreign markets recently, with the 5s, 5c and 5 taking three of the top four spots for global smartphone sales in October. The 5s and 5c are likely to launch on China Mobile this week, which should result in a surge in sales.
In addition to the phones, Apple also released the iPad Air and the iPad Mini Retina which both received rave reviews. Both iPads are expected to be top sellers this Christmas season as well. This all points to a strong earnings potential going into 2014.
On another positive note, analysts agree that Apple is still a bargain due to it's valuation. Tom Taulli of Investor Place points out that Apple still has a reasonable price-to-earnings ratio of 11 times, while competitors Google and Microsoft have P/Es of 20 and 13 respectively. Apple also currently pays a dividend yield of 2.3%, which is expected to rise next year.
Expectations are high right now for Apple stock over the next few weeks and going into 2014. Look for positive numbers from the upcoming iPhone 5s and 5c launch with China Mobile which, with 750 million subscribers, is the world's largest carrier.