With the expected launch of the iPhone 5, the iPad mini and potential announcements about Apple TV, the tech giant is set up for a blockbuster second half of the year.
"It's going to be really big," says Josh Brown, vice president at Fusion Analytics and author of The Reformed Broker blog. "The amount of things they have hitting at once, and the anticipation of things they're starting to talk about probably favors being long Apple as opposed to not being long." (Brown is long Apple (AAPL) and recommends to his clients.)
While Apple's product cycle is well known -- and widely rumored -- Brown's point is that the news isn't "priced in" to the stock, which is back above $600 after falling to as low as $530 in mid-May.
The iPhone 5 is "going to be a huge deal," Brown says, particularly in China where Apple currently has less than 20% of the smartphone market vs. nearly 70% for Google's Android. Some analysts expect the iPhone 5 will be compatible with China Mobile's wireless network, opening a potentially huge market to Apple.
Meanwhile, television is a "ginormous vertical" and Brown has faith the next version of Apple TV will revolutionize that industry much the same way the iPhone and iPod did for mobile and music, respectively. "This may be the last gift from 'the great one' coming down the pike," he says, referring to Steve Jobs who late in life told biographer Walter Isaacson he had "finally cracked" TV.
If the second half plays out as he expects, Brown predicts Apple shares will "start tearing things up again." That will give a boost to the broader market, he adds, citing Apple's hefty weighting in the S&P 500 (GSPC) and Nasdaq (IXIC) as well as its "huge psychological impact" on growth investors.
As you'll see in the accompanying video, Brown isn't too concerned about potential competition from Samsung or Google (GOOG) or Microsoft (MSFT) -- or much else when it comes to Apple.
Faith is one thing but Brown also notes Apple stock is "absurdly cheap" on a price-to-cashflow basis and pays a solid dividend.
