ErixClix

When will the analysts get it?  How many straight quarters does Apple (AAPL) have to outperform the market?  How many years of consistency will it take before analysts give Apple a fair shake?  After not only surviving this recession Apple has again in it’s Q2 Earnings Report released today shown it has what it takes to be a strong, short-term as well as long-term investment.  Or is it something else?  Is there some other reason analysts are reactive and not proactively confident about Apple?

Cut off your nose to spite your…Apple?

It is quite possible, that all those years of being wrong about Apple, recommending Microsoft (MSFT, nicknamed “Mr. Softy”) as the safe bet to their clients while Apple climbs from $12 to $100, splits, climbs back up over $100 and closes today at $121 may give them cause to “stay the stubborn course” on their technology picks.  It’s a missed boat, and to get on this late in the game is admitting you missed out on the biggest gains.  And that does not feel good.  Do this in large enough numbers and it effects an industry.

Analysts, instead of doing their jobs and researching what looks like a high risk stock on the surface, with a little investigation, would have seen the fundamentals were there.  There are a few analysts that used their brains and earned their hefty commissions that took a chance on Apple, but they are very few and far between.  Hats off to those who had to endure ridicule and condemnation from the “be safe” drones!

So yes, I ultimately believe that after all of the non-stop gains they’ve watched pass them by, it’s now easier for them to continue to ‘pass’ on Apple and stick with Mr. Softy.  Harboring resentment is bad for your portfolio.

Is it too late?

Currently Apple holds less than 15% of the desktop computer market in the U.S.  There are 2 ways to look at this, 1) Why is that number so small?  Or, 2) Look how much room they have to grow.  So let’s see, are they growing?  Well, just in the last 3 years, their market share has grown by a full third…and is still growing.  Let alone the ‘other’ profit center…handheld devices.

The iPhone…clearly the most popular smartphone on the market, still has not saturated the market as far as Research In Motion(RIMM)’s Blackberry.  Again, this is good news.  The research, as well as the real numbers released by Apple today show the momentum is still in Apple’s favor.  And with the very public release of a new iPhone OS, and a new iPhone coming in June, even more reasons to switch to the iPhone will have presented themselves.

Competition

Typically, when so many companies are trying to compete with you, as are LG, Research In Motion, Samsung, Palm and others, who are trying to invent the next “iPhone Killer”, you’re in trouble.  Someone finds a way to outdo you.  Thus far it has not worked with Apple because their approach, marketing, innovation and corporate culture is different.

Microsoft’s retaliation for the “I’m a PC, I’m a Mac” commercials also, are not working.  Further, their attempt at making a friendlier easier to use (as Apple’s Mac OS is known for) OS, Vista, crashed and burned, souring many on even giving them a chance on the upcoming Windows 7.

So far, Apple’s “core” does seem impervious.  At least until a potential competitor finds a way to reinvent itself from the ground up.  And that’s not easy.  So that takes care of the competition, for now.

So, no, it’s not too late to get on this boat.  But what do I know? I’m not an analyst.

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