Robert Stack on Apple's solid Q4 2026: What the analysts are saying - 'IANAA (I am not an ANALyst): For me it’s pretty simple. Apple is basically selling everything it can make. Market share and user base continue to grow globally for both Mac and iPhone. If the company takes a slight margin hit this quarter or next because of high memory costs, I accept this as a consequence of a wise decision to not increase the cost of the Neo. The biggest risk to AAPL remains geopolitical – not just China, but Trump too.'
on Apple's solid Q4 2026: What the analysts are saying - 'Morning, Bill, Another lulu from Laura Martin: “…slowing its installed base growth by not using FCF to aid device sales are risky decisions…” Wow. Just – wow. “Come on, Apple! Quit throwing money away! Snap your fingers and get that production up!” It’s nothing short of an accusation that Apple is purposefully holding back production capacity in order to – what? Enrich its long term stockholders with buybacks? Do you really think Apple isn’t burning the midnight oil trying to increase production of hugely complex, highest quality products for short term appeasement of long term investors? You must think we’re awfully dumb. But guess what? We think YOU are the dumb bunny!! The Master of Supply Chain, Tim Cook, may not be CEO any more, but he presides over its Board. Time to wake up from your fever dream and get yourself an extra-strong cup of Java.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - '”As time progresses, we’ll hear more of the unscripted Ternus.” Unscripted? No. More natural/relaxed? Yes.'
on Apple's solid Q4 2026: What the analysts are saying - 'A couple of questions: First, what the heck is Laura Martin referring to when she writes “META, OpenAI and others want to take AAPL’s 15%-30% rev share via glasses, and/or other new form factors”? Revenue share of what? And by what “new” but unidentified form factors, and how? This is an analysis?? Second, does anyone have any idea what Richard Windsor is referring to with “I suspect that Apple is buying compute capacity in the spot market given how uncertain it is about how much compute it is going to need. This means that initially, Apple is probably paying around 2x the price that it would be paying if it signed a long-term agreement with one of the usual cloud providers”? I find that a confounding comment, given that everyone is selling AI compute power/capacity at below cost, and the price of tokens has been plummeting over the last year. Or at least that’s what the financial reporting of GOOG, META, MSFT, Anthropic, OpenAI and others is telling us. Does anyone have any insight into AI compute spot market prices?'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'Considering how skittish the market is today, I think any good CEO would be scripted and very,very careful. A single wrong word could tank the stock. I mean, even with all the good news, the stock is down a fair amount. Tough time for his first call. I also suspect that this quarter could also have all sorts of unknowns. They have introduced a ton of new products with no real track record for how well they will do and how much they might add to the bottom line. Or not. The ramp up of the Duo may also be causing uncertainty. With so many things in the air, don”t criticize the juggler for being careful.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'Thanks. The Ternus Doctrine analysis is on my website.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'Agree with Bloomberg. Yesterday I said, “ Ternus’ responses to question seem too guarded and scripted.” This was the time to set the tone for a new era and for Ternus to proclaim that he has his hands on the wheel. His responses were nothing burgers for the whole. Having said that, he has had to put on some enormous shoes, and at a time of external challenges – memory, elections, maniac on the loose… So, yes, don’t want to rock the boat. I do think Ternus was the right pick.'
on Premarket: Apple is red - 'You’d think with all those put peaks that there must be some black swans circling above. My Take: The ‘reactors’ sell on the news, the ‘thinkers’ will buy, because the news was good. It just takes the thinkers a few more days to, well, think.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'From today’s WSJ: “Apple isn’t a bad option for investors who want to go long on tech without being overexposed to AI. At the company’s current valuation, though, it is quite an expensive one.” The demand is for growth. Has Apple gotten to a point where it takes so much to “move the needle” that AAPL’s sources of capital return will skew toward dividends and buybacks? See Warren Buffett on the subject.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'First conference call for John Ternus, and it seemed like he and the other Apple leaders were trying to channel Tim Cook. But, they all sounded tentative with too many “umms” and “you knows.” I would expect that as he gains more comfort with the calls and more experience as CEO, he will slowly turn to channeling John Ternus. Cook was great, and behind every answer to a question was a seasoned, operational genius knowing what to say and what not to say. Following Ballmer at Microsoft was easy, almost impossible to mess up. Following Cook at Apple is much more challenging. John is in the difficult position of not wanting to screw it up. As time progresses, we’ll hear more of the unscripted Ternus. I think investors will respond positively over the long haul.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'My new year’s resolution – tune out the noise. Instead, read what Horace said on this topic.'
on Premarket: Apple is red - 'In the first 15 minutes, the stock is jumping all over from 325 to 331. For all you know, we might just end the day flat or even a tiny bit green.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'If Ternus had given out future plans like everyone wanted him to, the critics would have criticized him for laying out Apple’s roadmap for competitors to see. If the analysts want answers, ask question that you know he can answer. Instead, they all ask questions that look to get information that they know Apple doesn’t want to release that would be helpful to the competition. The critics don’t have to like his performance. That is the job for investors to see if they like it or not. That being said, the little bit of the CC that I listened to did show that he was somewhat tentative. So what? But I guess everything is open to criticism these days. I think that is both the blessing and curse of social media. Edit-What I care about is that he takes care of Apple in the same manner that Tim Cook did.'
on Bloomberg calls Apple's Ternus 'timid' and 'scripted' - 'I didn’t listen to the Q&A, but I thought he did quite well otherwise. Sounds like Bloomberg’s Dave Lee wanted more drama, more “punch” in his answers. Save it for the political ads (actually, don’t). I’ll take “steady as she goes” answers over bluster and bravado. As an orator, I thought he sounded more authoritative than Cook.'
on Apple's solid Q4 2026: What the analysts are saying - 'And Keybanc bottom feeder Brandon Nispel reiterated his brainiac Underweight and maintains a $250 price target . This is probably why AAPL is down $14.00 or 4% pre-market despite actual knowledgeable analysts considering other wise. It’s a buying opportunity I guess'
on Apple's solid Q4 2026: What the analysts are saying - 'Where on earth does Yang from Oppenheimer get analysts ‘expectations of 1% earnings growth’ from? Why do they defy the evidence of their own eyes and ears I wonder…?'
on Apple's solid fiscal Q4 2026 in five easy charts - 'Yes, I think we are in simple agreement on this.'
