Some slices of Apple should be part of every healthy stock portfolio. The tech sweetheart blew past expectations in its most recent quarter, thanks to twice as many iPhone sales compared to the same quarter a year ago.
The iPhone, which already holds 25% of the U.S. market and is second only to Research In Motion's Blackberry, is still gaining market share -- and not just in the U.S. The iPhone is on the heels of RIM globally and is rapidly gaining on Nokia, the dominant smartphone maker worldwide.
It's still unclear whether Apple's new tablet computer, the iPad, will be as big a success as the iPhone and iPod. And since tech companies live or die on product cycles, some analysts are wary about how Apple's stock will fare after 2009's 150% run-up. Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry calls the iPad a "technology marvel" but warns that Apple's exclusivity with AT&T could drive away adoring customers.
Apple's stock still looks attractive through. Shares are currently trading at 17 times earnings estimates for fiscal 2010, which Cornerstone Capital Management's chief investment officer Tom Kamp said leaves a fair amount of upside, as earnings are expected to grow 19% annually, on average, for the next few years. Apple is a big holding in Kamp's Keystone Large Cap Growth Fund, accounting for about 6% of the fund's assets.
--Hibah Yousuf
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