Robert Paul Leitao on Premarket: Apple is green - 'In afternoon trading the major indexes are mixed. Among S&P 500 components about 67% are currently in the red on the day. Apple is up $0.19 at $311.19. SpaceX continues to wobble with the shares up $2.68 today at $110.95. Microsoft, still working off its 52-week low of $349.20 set on June 25th, is up $8.60 or 1.76% at $496.06. The all-time high of $553.72 was set last October 28th.'
on BofA: Apple App Store downloads fell 4% Y/Y in July - '“At the same time, dollars per download rose nearly 5%.” Decrease in downloads with an increase in revenue tells me that the App store has got rid of a lot of freebies (or a lot of freebies are not being downloaded as much). I believe AI will help Apple’s app store in the following way. Since it is the big companies (Epic Games) that want to have their own App stores and receive Apple’s services free so that they can reap all the profits, AI will help the smaller developers (who tend to stay in Apple’s app store) create better products and be more competitive (against Epic, etc), bringing more profit to Apple.'
on BofA: Apple App Store downloads fell 4% Y/Y in July - 'Granted I’m not a ‘typical user’, but I think I’ve downloaded -1- new App in the last year. That was for my new blood sugar sensor. That app required a lot of login/account creation, and since the older app works just fine to do what I want it to do (display readings locally), I’ll probably remove the new app. All those stores, etc that want me to ‘download their app for deals’ get -ignored-.'
on BofA: Apple App Store downloads fell 4% Y/Y in July - 'Steven, I could be wrong but I don’t see AI obviating the need for an app. AI supposedly amplifies the app, but you still need the app. I just looked at my first few pages on my iPad and I see streaming music, Apple TV, a remote for the physical Apple TV, an app for the photo scanner, one for earthquake alerts, Universe Splitter, and others. I guess AI would try to make those easier to use but I still need the basic function each provides.'
on BofA: Apple App Store downloads fell 4% Y/Y in July - 'Steven, I’m guessing the “AI” apps at this stage are going to be low hanging fruit. In other words, obvious and easy to develop. As “AI” tools proliferate, “AI” capable apps will become more capable and usage will expand. I couldn’t tell you in what categories these Apps will appear. My imagination isn’t omnipresent. But a multitude of developers will create a multitude of Apps. It’ll just take time for developer knowledge to grow and startups to emerge.'
on BofA: Apple App Store downloads fell 4% Y/Y in July - 'Here’s a question. There are a ton of apps that improve specific functions or add things that are missing and a lot of these are now adding AI functionality which could increase downloads when newer AI iPhones roll out. BUT – AI itself may eliminate the need for many of these apps and seemingly could devastate App Store sales. Would Apple’s AI monetization make up for these losses – IF I’m correct?'
on BofA: Apple is stocking up on chips, buying up its shares - 'Fair question. This may help. AI says Apple’s ROIC is 45%, or at the 95% for all businesses. We can take comfort that they make excellent investment choices. Also, they never spend all the buyback allocation. Final note: The $160M in buyback allocation is about 3% of the market cap.'
on Premarket: Apple is green - 'Favorable comments on SiTime’s earnings call last night guiding that sales to their ‘large consumer company’ will be strong in the second half of 2026 + stronger for 2027 as they (Apple) ‘continue to roll out our products into their next generation’. SiTime sells precision timing products used networking. Sales to data centers has taken off for them but 2 of their products are used in Apple’s C-series modems. Another answer by the CEO later in the Q+A regarding long term growth rates (next 5-8 years) absolutely caught my attention and reconfirmed my conviction in the stock. Not investment advice so do you own research but I will be continuing to add on all pullbacks.'
on BofA: Apple is stocking up on chips, buying up its shares - 'If it were to work you must assume there would be no distraction from its core business. Which has been fundamental to Apple’s success.'
on BofA: Apple is stocking up on chips, buying up its shares - 'Robert – “I am a little surprised” …indeed. Perhaps they didn’t anticipate it being as protracted or as deep. But it will serve as a cautionary tale going forward.'
on BofA: Apple is stocking up on chips, buying up its shares - 'I am not sure if Apple’s announced annual buyback authorization amounts are being fully exercised by the time they announce the new amounts each year. If they have a smaller buyback like the 11 billion in the previous quarter the 25 Billion in the last quarter doesn’t make them on pace for the announced annual amount which would average around 25 billion per quarter. This happens with buybacks as opposed to dividends. They are not a promise but more of an aspiration. Still a lot of shareholder return but they can adjust as they like.'
on Seeking Alpha recommends selling Apple puts - 'I find that one of the main benefits of subscribing to Seeking Alpha is the wide range of reader comments/opinions at the end of each article. And there are tons of long-term AAPL holders out there. The strong rebuttals on “negative” Apple articles on SA by these multi-decade AAPL investors — much like so many of us here on PED’s blog — more than compensate for the pricey sub fee, IMO.'
on OpenAI gets 'oddly personal' with Apple legal - 'DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS ALL CLAIMS TO THE HONORABLE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT: Defendants hereby move to dismiss all Apple’s claims against them on grounds that their claims are careless, they are aggressive, and they are oddly personal. The lawsuit is very mean. And it has hurt our feelings.'
