Apple to Announce Q4 2014 Earnings on October 20

Record earnings. Record disappointment. Did I get it right?

Good. I want my dividend check.

You forgot about stock buybacks. If Apple buys back a significant number of shares, then the stock price can double without reaching a market cap of $1.2 trillion. Not saying it will double any time soon, but I feel good about a 15% increase over the next year.

Factor in the lack of risk, and I'm pretty comfortable holding onto AAPL. Investors always place far too much importance on growth potential and don't pay enough attention to risk.

Agree 100%. Although I would rather see the money for buy backs used towards new products, it gives me confidence on reducing downside risk as apple would swoop in and start buying during a decline giving us a proper price floor. Risk factors depend on personal factors such as age and so on. If you're young, you can afford to take more risk because you have a lot of earning years left, but as you get older and close to retirement, you can't risk loosing it all.

I'm not advocating to sell or predicting a price decline, even though it can easily go down to the high 80's as the market as a whole is overvalued. But I don't expect as much as growth as other companies in its sector.

Most the upside for aapl is done. It's just a value stock now. Just look at the pe.
For it to double it needs to be a 1.2 trillion dollar company.

You forgot about stock buybacks. If Apple buys back a significant number of shares, then the stock price can double without reaching a market cap of $1.2 trillion. Not saying it will double any time soon, but I feel good about a 15% increase over the next year.

Factor in the lack of risk, and I'm pretty comfortable holding onto AAPL. Investors always place far too much importance on growth potential and don't pay enough attention to risk.

Although you are correct that the article states the 27th, I wonder why they would close their books on a Saturday. I always think in terms of Friday close of business, so when books are closed on any other day it always seems interesting. But in the end it matters little I am sure.

The end of the fiscal Quarter and fiscal Year were September 27. That's just how the 52 weeks divided by 4 (13 week quarters) ends up, based on the start of their fiscal year.

Pe is just a ratio that changes everyday.. It's the multiple that you pay for earnings, and it's only useful to compare to another company in the same industry. If apple has a very low pe for tech, it means investors aren't willing to pay a premium because they don't see growth in the earnings. Thus how it's being treated like a value stock, because investors don't see growth opportunities.

I know exactly what PE is, so no need to explain it. Currently AAPL is selling for a multiple of roughly 16. Not a lot can be imputed from this PE, for one because it's right on the median of the S&P 500 currently, and for another, the stock was selling at a multiple closer to 10 not many months ago. In any event, none of this supports your point.