If the stock market is where love goes to die, then Apple (AAPL) is the grim reaper. The darling of the NASDAQ made investors billions over the years only to take more than 20% of those collective profits back in just over a month. In the attached clip Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at NBG Productions, and I focus on what should be done with the stock in the wake of the carnage.
"You're still looking at a Fanboy," says Sozzi who confesses to being blindsided by the stock's collapse. Like so many Apple bulls, he notes that the stock is cheap by almost all traditional fundamental measures with $100 billion in cash, strong margins, and a P/E of 12.
Being cheap isn't a buy thesis and Sozzi knows it. Apple has become a sentiment play and right now the prevailing mood is fear. Beyond simple concerns of giving back gains, investors are fretting over a string of atypically uninspired product launches and shocking earnings missteps.
Related: Nothing Lasts Forever: Apple Is Showing Its Age
There was a time when Apple would get a pass on mistakes. Not anymore. "They're a show me company," says Sozzi grimly. "They need to show me a better quarter."
Apple doesn't report results for another two-and-a-half months. For nervous shareholders that's starting to feel like a million years from now.
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