Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares are still in the doldrums. Even after the rise caused by the company’s most recent earnings report, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares are not what they used to be. Several analysts have been theorizing about what the company needs to do to get back on top, with many deciding a new product line is needed. However, Trefis Research doesn’t agree.
In a new report, Trefis puts a price target of $599 on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares using a sum of parts valuation methodology. That means the research doesn’t look at speculative future products, just what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has in its stable. The result is one that few analysts have managed to reach without imaginary televisions.
A sum-of-parts methodology looks at each division and values them separately based on their Discounted Cash Flow, or DCF, and then adds them to arrive at a price for the company as a whole.
According to the Trefis report, the iPhone makes up 45.6% of the $599 price target, bringing the value of the product to $273 per share. The other products in the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) line up—iPad, Mac, iTunes&Apps, iPod and Apple TV—make up 12.5%, 11.6%, 6.6%, 1.1% and 0.5% of the company’s value respectively. The remaining 22.7% of the firm’s value is in cash, net of debt.
The iPhone is still the most important part of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) because, according to the analysis, the device serves a larger market than the iPad or the Mac line. Worldwide smart phones are the device of the decade, tablets are not there yet. This trend is likely to continue for a some time, looking at the relative weight of the devices.
The analysis makes it clear that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should be worth $600 based on the Trefis valuation, but that says nothing for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) investor whims. Apple shares should have been worth $600 per share for a long time, but the problem is shares are actually worth $440.
Innovation and Apple
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s business might be worth $599 if split up into separate entities, but right now shareholders are looking at a Cupertino behemoth with restrictive competition in established markets and a history of creating value through innovation.
If shareholders were valuing Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) without these ideas, shares might be worth $600, and they’d be better off. It doesn’t take away from the fact that Apple is innovation. If one disappears, the other looks very different.
