Just this week, Apple (AAPL) passed up Exxon Mobil (XOM) as the largest corporation in the S&P. That is incredible for a company that sells cell phones, computers and fancy walkmans. Their recent earnings, just like all the others, blew away estimates and surged beyond $400/share. However with the recent calamities in the global markets, and its impact on US stocks, not to mention the downgrade by the S&P, shares of AAPL have taken a pretty good hit.
But, something that has gotten little publicity is the fact that they are signed up now with China Mobile (CHL) so that they can sell their iPhones to CHL’s 600+ million subscribers. That is a ton of people, not to mention the fact that 600 million is about twice the size of the United States population in general, and being able to have access to this client base, could be one of those catalysts that send the stock upwards of $500 within the year.
You’ll see in the chart below, that the AAPL stock has been trading in a well-defined range since the beginning of March of 2009. It has tested the bottom channel on two separate occasions, and in doing so saw a very nice recovery to the upside. With us getting very close to touching the trend-line yet again, you have to ask yourself – how close you must you be to the trend-line before you jump in for the ride? Because we are well off the highs of this stock, and there is a chance that it might not see the $340’s. Nonetheless, I think this is one of the best buys out there right now, particularly for holding it in the long-term.
Here’s the Chart Analysis on AAPL.