Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, October 24, 2014

Article Excerpt

APPLE INC., $105.22, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, hit a new all-time high of $105.49 (split-adjusted) this week on strong demand for the latest version of its iPhone smartphone. In its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter, which ended September 27, 2014, earnings rose 12.7%, to $8.5 billion from $7.5 billion a year earlier. The company spent $45.0 billion on share buybacks in the past year. As a result, earnings per share jumped 20.3%, to $1.42 from $1.18. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.31. Sales in the quarter gained 12.4%, to $42.1 billion from $37.5 billion. That also beat the consensus forecast of $39.9 billion. Sales of iPhones (56% of the total) rose 21.4%. As well, sales of Mac computers (16%) gained 17.8%, but iPad sales (13%) fell 14.1%. The remaining 15% of Apple’s sales comes from iPod music players (down 28.4%), iTunes music and movie downloads (up 8.2%) and accessories (up 12.7%). Apple’s earnings will probably rise 16.3% in fiscal 2015, to $7.50 a share. The…