Tax changes offer them long-term gains

Article Excerpt

Recent changes to the U.S. tax code will force these three tech leaders to repatriate billions of dollars held by their overseas subsidiaries. That cash will be taxed at 15.5% instead of 35% as under the old rules. While those payments will hurt their short-term earnings, the new rules also cut their corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%. That should spur long-term earnings for all three. Right now, however, we see only one as a buy. APPLE INC. $174 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.1 billion; Market cap: $887.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.9; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) gets 65% of its revenue from iPhone sales. The remaining 35% comes from sales of its Mac computers, iPad tablets, iPod music players and Apple watches as well as the software, movies and music sold through its online stores. Recent reforms to the U.S. tax code require corporations to repatriate the cash they…