Based on the aggregated intelligence of 130,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, tech bellwether Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Apple's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Apple facts
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Headquarters (founded)
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Cupertino, Calif. (1976)
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Market Cap
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$74.01 billion
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Industry
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Computer hardware
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TTM Revenue
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$33.04 billion
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Management
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Co-Founder/CEO Steve Jobs
CFO Peter Oppenheimer
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Return on Equity (average, last three years)
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26.1%
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Competitors
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT )
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ )
Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM )
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CAPS members bullish on AAPL also bullish on
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Google (Nasdaq: GOOG )
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ )
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CAPS members bearish on AAPL also bearish on
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General Motors (NYSE: GM )
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Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Over on CAPS, fully 3,776 of the 4,061 All-Star members who have rated Apple -- some 93% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include SRF4REAL and huddaman, both of whom are ranked in the top 15% of our community.
Two days ago, SRF4REAL wrote that Apple "makes the best personal computers, best OS and people are discovering this en masse; expect them to double their market share in two years, and continue beating others with iPod, iPhone, iEverything else!"
In a pitch from two days earlier, huddaman helps support that bull case with some eye-opening valuation work:
I think [Apple is] my favorite pick today and I don't think there is any other stock that can give you more bank for your buck.
Its enterprise value is $50B. That's market cap minus net cash. That's what it would cost you today to own [Apple], assuming you can buy back all the shares at the current $85 or so.
They generated about $8.5B free cash flow in 2008. That's like less than 6 times multiple on cash flow.
What do you think about Apple, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 130,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.
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