Apple: It’s Time to Start Believing (And Buying!), Says Jackson
The hits just keep coming for Apple (AAPL). In the last five days the company has been downgraded by Goldman Sachs (GS) and seen Best Buy (BBY) open Samsung stores withing a store. In the off chance shareholders weren't insulted enough, word leaked that Apple's new HQ would cost almost $2 billion more than Apple spent on R&D in 2012. The deluge of bad news has dropped the stock by more than 5% this week but also brought out hoards of ironic buyers getting long the stock precisely because others are most skeptical.
Count Eric Jackson of Ironfire Capital among the Apple bulls. "The big thing is that a lot of these analysts have thrown in the towel," he says. It's no longer a secret that Samsung is a competitor in smartphones. Apple's challenges in releasing game-changing new products like the iPhone or iPad have been beaten to death.
What the bears and timid investors are forgetting is that Apple shares have been beaten up plenty of times during their near 6000% ten-year rally. Looking through the price charts over that time, Jackson notes there have been plenty of periods where shares have declined or done a whole lot of nothing for 6 to 10 months.
"They've been here before and they've always come through; I expect the same thing eventually," Jackson asserts.
He started buying Apple earlier this year and has been adding to the position recently in the $430 to $440 range. Jackson sees a short term move to the mid-$500 to $600 level possible for a trade and remains bullish over the long term.
"Hey, they can still innovate," he argues, "it wasn't just the magic man behind the curtain."
