Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Apple of the Public's Eye

I have more than once praised AAPL and gold as investments, such as on a Sept. 1 post. An article appeared today that indicates that Apple is playing in a different league than any of its corporate competitors, tech or otherwise. Per Secrets of Apple's customer success:

For the seventh straight year, Apple has topped its competitors in the PC industry in the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), achieving a score of 86 out of 100. Its Apple's highest ranking since the annual survey began in 1995. . .

The Mac maker's nine-point lead is now the largest lead any company has over its competition in any of the 45 categories that the ACSI study surveys--including home appliances, gas stations, autos, e-commerce, airlines, and more.


AAPL is one of the few high quality large cap companies selling at a clear price-earnings ratio discount to its recent and prospective growth rate. Its growth comes with no debt, no leverage. And need anyone mention that its leadership role is in an intrinsically high-growth area, that of mobile information/communications? And that increasingly its growth is ex-U. S., and therefore it is itself an anti-dollar hedge?

If you think I like the stock, with appreciation for the substantial risks it and the overall stock market have, you are correct. Apple is sui generis. For a long time, that was a bad thing. Now it's the paragon- at a "GARP" discount to the market.

Caveat non-emptor?

Copyright (C) Long Lake LLC 2010

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