Now, following the big selloff triggered by its disappointing earnings report on April 27, this great growth enterprise is trading at the levels of a beaten-down value stock.

At these seemingly super-cheap prices, is Apple really a bargain? The simplest way to answer that question is to determine what Apple aapl needs to earn in order to hand investors an attractive return.

To do that, let's imagine that Apple, the whole company, were a single, gigantic share of stock, with the price equivalent to its market cap. Would you like to buy a share of Apple?

One could argue that looking at Apple's shares this way excludes the possible positive boost from stock buybacks, but as I have detailed in the past Apple's buybacks have actually been a disaster, wasting billions.

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And that's actually a discount. That means investors are expecting a lot less from the iPhone-maker.

For its third quarter, Apple is predicting a continuing decline in margins, to Apple's profit picture is likely to get worse. Apple introduced a new hot-selling iPhone in March. But what counts is the future earnings Apple must produce to recharge its stock.

Clearly, though, the market is expecting profits not to wax, but to wane, and wane a lot. That brings its multiple to the target of From there, Apple starts growing again, posting average earnings increases of 5. And remember that earnings number includes inflation. So this seems doable, and it may be.

What's the smallest number of shares I can buy?

At some point, the big shrink in earnings has to stop, and profits need to rebound. Despite the big selloff, Apple still needs to be a one-of-a-kind innovator to make its stock a great buy. Fortune Intel Is Teaming With This Israeli Cybersecurity Incubator.

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Apple stock is making regular Americans rich - Mar. 3,

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