The Investor Advisory Service updated subscribers on Apple in the November 2011 issue. Here's what we said:

It was an eventful quarter for Apple. Tim Cook took over as CEO, and Steve Jobs lost his long battle with pancreatic cancer. Historically, the departure of a legendary CEO has frequently coincided with a peak in the company’s stock price. Apple could prove an exception, however, as Jobs’ departure was related to his health, not to diminishing company prospects.

 

Still, Q4 looked like a little bit of a stumble. iPhone sales disappointed analysts, coming in at 17 million units, down from 20 million last quarter. Apple says that anticipation around the release of a new model pushed demand back into Q4. Early reports of strong iPhone 4S shipments seem to confirm that idea, and we expect huge sales in Q1. Apple sold 11 million iPads, up from 9 million last quarter. Laptops grew 26% year-over-year. iPod sales continue to decline. All told, quarterly revenue grew 39% to $28.27 billion. EPS increased 52% to $7.05. Surprisingly, overall gross margin is not forecasted to expand in the holiday quarter. We think the company is sandbagging somewhat, but we would not be surprised if Q1 2012 represents a peak, followed by at least a year of decline. Apple now has $82 billion in cash and securities. The company hints it may be considering a significant share buyback.

 

AAPL (398.62) is a buy up to 502.