With Christmas fast approaching, one company that is definitely on a lot of consumers' minds is undoubtedly Apple (AAPL – Analyst Report). The computing giant's iPhones, iPads, and computers are favorite gift items for many, and will definitely be waiting under the tree for some lucky people on the 25th.
Yet investors might also want to consider adding Apple to their portfolio wish lists for the New Year. This is because Apple appears to be positioned for another surge in the 2015 thanks to its solid brand name, a rising consumer market, as well as a new product launch. Let's take a closer look at some of these positive developments below:
Reasons to Buy Apple
As the ultimate consumer discretionary company, Apple stands to benefit from surging consumer confidence and increased levels of disposable income. Confidence levels are at a post-Great Recession highs, while the crash in oil prices is putting extra money in everyone's pockets.
Apple looks to take advantage of this in 2015 thanks to its already solid line-up of in-demand products and its normal refresh cycle. However, there are plenty of fresh opportunities on the horizon including possible developments on the Apple TV and iTunes fronts, as well as the release of the Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch is expected to sell at least eight million units, while some analysts are looking for 10 million units as a possible sales figure. While it is true that this is unlikely to move the needle too much for the company, let's consider that it opens up a new product category for Apple and that we shouldn't underestimate the company or its marketing machine at this point. After all, many were wrong about the impact of the iPhone and especially the iPad, so it will be interesting to see what Apple can do with its newest potential game-changing product.
Let's also not overlook Apple Pay system as this slowly reaches a critical mass. The mobile payments world is one with massive potential and Apple, thanks to the incredible number of iPhones out there, stands to capture a chunk of this space too, further diversifying its revenue stream. Again, this isn't likely to be a huge driver in the near term, but just the like the watch, it has strong potential to help down the road.
Analysts Agree
Analysts also like the outlook for Apple in the near term and have been raising their earnings estimates as a result. The trend has been universally positive, as not a single estimate has been cut for any of the time period that we study, including the current year and next year time frames. In total, 20 estimates have gone higher for the current year, and not a single one lower.
The consensus estimate has also made a nice surge as a result of these rising estimates, as 90 days ago it was about $7.03/share for the current year, while today it is at $7.73/share. We have seen a similar trend for the next year period, insuring that, according to analyst projections, we will see double digit EPS growth for Apple in the foreseeable future.
