Comments on: Market free fall: How Apple fared

By: chi town, il

chi town, il — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:35:03 +0000

not sure what the point is. they are all down as should be – few blimps here and there; what is the point budd? – i like the excel screenshot;

By: Dave, Richmond VA

Dave, Richmond VA — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:30:17 +0000

Why is Amazon a "Tech" stock? Seems to me it is a retail/distribution stock. Are we still living in the late dot-com era?

ex ped: For starters, two words: S3, EC2.

By: Andrew, Sioux Center, Iowa

Andrew, Sioux Center, Iowa — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:28:00 +0000

The reason that Google can have prices so much higher is because they have fewer stocks at a higher price. GE, a blue chip, has 10.5 billion shares where as Google only has 314.45 million, that's a HUGE difference. I don't think that Google's price is ridiculous at all. Look at Berkshire Hathaway, they're price is $124,000 per share and you're not complaining about that, they only offer 1.55 million shares so again its price vs. quantity.

By: Steve, Sioux Falls, SD

Steve, Sioux Falls, SD — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:46:50 +0000

These tech stocks are still way overpriced. No way Google or Amazon stock should be more than $20-25 per share. Most stocks right now should be in that range except for blue chips. Oh wait, the blue chips are in this range too. Google had a 52 week high of $747, which is insane.

By: Ken C, Gardiner, Maine

Ken C, Gardiner, Maine — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:31:05 +0000

You should try netting cash out, and then do a P/E. Then you'll see what value is placed on operations.

2nd thing to think about, does any of the four besides Apple, have deferred earnings, of the magnitude that Apple has? Right now, because of the iPhone's deferred earnings, Apple is only adding a few pennies to its eps, when in fact, once the deferred earnings are fully realized, one would see that they could add about $0.85eps if they sell 10M iPhones a year.

10M iPhones x $500 x 0.15 net margin = $750M

$750M / 886M shs = 85 cents

Really, using P/E ratios, and not factoring in deferred revs, makes any comparison apples-to-oranges. Apple is very cheap right now.

By: Dan, Austin, TX

Dan, Austin, TX — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:25:30 +0000

Why don't you add debt figures to the spreadsheet. Given the *credit* crisis, it certainly seems relevant to see which companies need credit.

ex ped: Done. Interesting how much debt Amazon is carrying, especially compared with Apple and Google.

By: athanassios.com.gr, ATHENS GREECE

athanassios.com.gr, ATHENS GREECE — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:12:19 +0000

For longtimers AAPL is treated as the Blue Chip of the next era. Loans free (how touching these days), a powerhouse of addicting products Steve's Inc faces the Bubble Explosion of the early 00's but from a position of mere antithesis. Back then the stock was hammered 'cause of a "see you dead soon" feeling. Now the stock is juiced out from the around paniced instututional shareholders who keep…kept, FED knows 70% of the stock. Curious to see the current position of Fidelity for example…

Wall street has always been in a love-hate relationship with Steve's Inc. The same people who prayed for our soul in the late 90's became -for no reason but the greed of the momentous- our religious followers.

Well, nobody cares of their long term position in Wall Street as long as they improve their cash inflows these days. So selling out at 100 – 200 % 52 week profit wont hurt them. From an investment point of view this is a revelations of idiot-cracy. AAPL, if a Blue Chip of the new era should have been a safe heaven with slim daily volumes and steady price. -25% would be a good sign these days when you always deals with Wallstreet defects (the chief bankers that is….).

Bottom line. Had I had cash, I would accumulate AAPL in the same way I do with iTuned mp3s (aac's sorry Steve)

I bet all my 2000 shares in Apple that I bought back in 1996 that Apple has a long way to go to become an entertainment provider …..MS monopoly. We all await for the iScreen; a 32, 40 ,50 screen with OS Y inclusive that will come with a keyboard a mouse and an iRemote. Other cool stuff will be right ahead; apart from the S&M hopes of "many" regarding Steves health. Shame on them to play cancer for money.

So… a few years from now AAPL may be a terra stock, aka 1 Terra dollar stock. The "cloud society" has a producer and its leader these days bites an apple.

By: David Emery, Reston VA

David Emery, Reston VA — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:32:11 +0000

Why not add MSFT, too? Maybe not one of the 4 horsemen, but certainly a major player in the tech stampede (sorry if that metaphor got out of control

By: Dan, Chicago, IL

Dan, Chicago, IL — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:51:23 +0000

One thing not mentioned is Apple has $22B+ in cash (over 25% of market cap) and no debt. If you net the cash, the P/E and other metrics look even better.

ex ped: Good idea. Cash added into chart for all four stocks. Thanks.

By: Simon, Burl. MA

Simon, Burl. MA — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:35:38 +0000

Blodget? give me a break. And Cramer? What's going on here? Your credibility is truly in question.

ex ped: This seems to be the season for guilt by association. Maybe I should start quoting Bill Ayers and Charles Keating.