Apple still looks pricey

Article Excerpt

APPLE INC. $191 is still a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 15.6 billion; Market cap: $3.0 trillion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.9; Dividend yield: 0.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) gets about half of its revenue from iPhone sales. The other half comes from sales of its Mac computers, iPad tablets and other products. Apple’s overall revenue in its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter, ended September 30, 2023, declined 0.7%, to $89.50 billion from $90.15 billion a year earlier. Higher iPhone sales (up 2.8%) offset lower sales of its other products: Mac computers (down 33.8%), iPads (down 10.2%); and wearables (down 3.4%). However, revenue from services such as music streaming rose 16.3%. Earnings improved 10.8%, to $22.96 billion from $20.72 billion. Earnings per share rose at a faster rate of 13.2%, to $1.46 from $1.29, on fewer shares outstanding. The stock now trades at a somewhat high 29.2 times Apple’s forecast fiscal 2024 earnings of $6.54 a share. The $0.96…