To The Moon

DM Martins Research

Research published on the App Store's recent performance supports the idea that service revenues could disappoint this time. According to Morgan Stanley, September was the slowest month of growth for the App Store since 2015 at least, which would have led to quarterly revenues having declined by 2%.

Last quarter, CFO Luca Maestri had already spoken of services revenue increasing YOY "but decelerating from the June quarter due to macroeconomic factors and foreign exchange".

Own AAPL stock for the long haul

I think that Apple will impress again in fiscal Q4, despite certain parts of the portfolio (namely the services segment) possibly being a disappointment. However, I must admit that I am not much of a short-term trader. I do not have a strong opinion on whether AAPL is a good stock to buy ahead of earnings day and sell right after it, for example.

Instead, I maintain my long-term stance that Apple is a great stock to have in the portfolio, especially if bought 18% below all-time highs. While valuations remain far from depressed (see chart below), I like the product portfolio that seems to support strong demand and the company's recent track record of executing well in virtually any macro environment.