Is Apple Stock (AAPL) A Buy? Recent Stock Performance & A Lookahead From Today’s Apple Event

Key Takeaways

• Apple Watch Ultra was the biggest surprise at Apple’s event (see below).
• Safety features continue to define the Apple brand as the key focus and newest product features highlighted from the event.
• Apple is a brand many people love to love and they are giving consumers good reason to continue with a focus on health and safety and some enjoyable upgrades to boot.

Apple just introduced its iPhone 14 series, Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Series 8. There were a few surprises at this event, here are our favorites.

Top 9 Apple Surprises From Today’s Event

1. Dynamic island, pill cut-out at top of screen
2. The release of Apple Watch Ultra
3. New upgrades to camera on iPhone
4. Women’s health functionality with Apple Watch
5. Crash detection and fall detection
6. New bands for Apple Watch
7. Improvements to affordable Apple Watch SE
8. AirPod battery life and quality improvements.
9. Apple Fitness+ is available to all iPhone users this fall, even without a watch.

iPhone 14

Say hello to iPhone 14 and the new, supersized iPhone 14 Plus – iPhone 14 Pro will be available from $999, and and Pro Max at $1099, with storage options up to 1TB. Preorders start September 10 for the full ine, the 14 will ship September 16 and the 14 Plus ships October 7. Improved low-light image capture across the board and on the high end cinematic mode offers 4K30 or 4K24, and it’s the only smartphone available that shoots ProRes and offers Dolby HDR, end-to-end. Rounding out the revamped line: iPhone SE starts at $429, iPhone 12 from $599, iPhone 13 from $599, iPhone 14 from $799. The new iPhone 14 series has a dramatically improved battery life, boasted as “all day” though the specifics are unclear and “groundbreaking safety features designed to save lives.

Apple Watch Ultra

At $799 across the board, this is Apple’s most rugged watch to date – “good diving to 40 meters / 130 feet,” and, “can withstand dynamic forces of kite surfing or wakeboarding.” If you’re active in the water, it’s hard to imagine an everyday watch that has even a fraction of these features. Technical specs: 2000-nit display, Mil-STD 810, and more. Even on dry land, this is a great experience, and to drive that point home, Apple will offer “specialized bands for endurance training, outdoor adventures, and water sports.”

Apple Watch Series 8

With two new motion sensors and 4x faster sampling, Apple has made big advancements in safety. This device can predict even more accurately when there’s been a crash and respond accordingly. Temperature sensing and other features allow for advanced cycle tracking, including ovulation, “that takes our commitment to women’s health even further.” The enhanced Workout app is not to be overlooked.

Apple Mixed-Reality Rumors

News leaks suggest that Apple will announce a headset for virtual reality and augmented reality soon, possibly next January. Sorry, it just didn’t happen today. The computer headset could be a driver of Apple stock, as they move into this new space.

Air Pods Pro

Reengineered for even richer audio, improved noise cancellation and Adaptive Transparency. Most important, a self-reported six hour battery life on a single charge for uninterrupted flights from coast to coast, or across the pond to Portugal.

Of course, speculation continues with Apple possibly looking to make a self-driving electric car.

Apple Earnings: Latest Report

On July 28, Apple beat Wall Street’s targets for its fiscal third quarter with better-than-expected iPhone sales and services revenue. It forecast sales growth to accelerate in the September quarter as supply chain issues work themselves out. Apple stock rose 3.3% on the news during the next regular trading session.

Apple earned $1.20 a share on sales of $83 billion in the quarter ended June 25. On a year-over-year basis, Apple earnings fell 8% while sales inched 2% higher.

Apple’s next earnings report will be in late October.

Growth Potential for Apple

Two lines of business have given Apple’s sales and profits a small boost of late, services and wearables.

In the quarter ending this past June, Apple’s services revenue rose 12% year over year to $19.6 billion. Services include the App Store, AppleCare, iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and other offerings. Apple TV+ is now estimated to have 40 million subscribers, a far cry from Netflix (74 million US subscribers, 220 million worldwide) and other industry leaders like Disney + (44 million U.S. subscribers, 152 million worldwide) but making up ground against other premium content players like HBO and HBO Max (48.6 U.S. subscribers, 76.8 million worldwide).

Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories unit saw an 8% sales dip to $8.08 billion in the June quarter. Supply chain issues hurt this line of business in the most recent quarter. This does include: Apple Watch, AirPods wireless earbuds, Beats headphones and the Apple HomePod Mini wireless speaker.

Is Apple Stock a Buy Right Now?

If you’re a long-term investor, yes, it’s a buy. The company is not going anywhere and is positioned well for the future.

If you’re a short-term investor there is a pause for concern with all of the macroeconomic issues in today’s investing environment. It’s a hold if you already own it.

Today’s event brought substantive new product and product enhancements to the fold, though it was not filled with surprises like many of us are always hoping to see from Apple. There is always a question about what the next area of growth will be for Apple, there was nothing explicit or groundbreaking coming out of today’s event. It was more like anticipating mom’s spaghetti on Wednesday night, you already know how it’s going to taste and it’s still a week away.

Apple is a brand many people love to love and they are giving consumers good reason to continue supporting their position with a focus on health and safety, and some unquestionable upgrades to boot.

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