To The Moon

$Apple(AAPL)$. soared 7.6% in New York trading after delivering enough good news in its quarterly report to avoid the fate of most tech giants this earning season, when peers have seen valuations plunge by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Though sales of iPhones and services were softer than expected last quarter, Apple’s revenue and profit both topped analysts’ estimates. Even with growth expected to decelerate during the current period, investors found enough optimism to send the shares on their biggest one-day rally since July 2020.

The company far outshined Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others, which all delivered gloomy earnings reports in recent days, sending their shares tumbling.

But even Apple’s generally positive results raised questions for investors, who are looking for signs that the long-resilient company might finally fall victim to a slowing economy. Apple’s iPhone and services sales came in just shy of projections -- sparking concerns about two areas that were expected to be strong performers. Apple’s Mac computer business will decline substantially in the holiday quarter following a sales surge driven by new models.

With loyal customers still eager to snap up its pricey products, Apple has been seen as an outlier during a punishing tech slowdown. The company also released its latest iPhone earlier in the year than usual, giving the fiscal fourth quarter a greater portion of sales from Apple’s flagship device. But roaring inflation and a broader slowdown in consumer spending, particularly for personal devices, may still be weighing on the company.

The iPhone, Apple’s flagship device, generated about $42.6 billion in the fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 24, the company said. Analysts had estimated nearly $42.7 billion. Services, such as music and video streaming, brought in $19.2 billion. That was well short of the almost $20 billion projection.

For years, Apple (AAPL​) has held onto its rank as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. As of Sept. 2, 2022, its market capitalization is $2.7 trillion.

I am a loyal customer of Apple and I believe buying Apple shares is a long term investment. I will buy Apple shares when it has dropped to below USD130 again. Due to the slowing economy, I believe the Apple’s earnings will be much better in 2023.