When assessing any stock, you need to weigh the risk against reward. Yet for Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) shareholders, it's a challenging task. To be sure, it's really hard to see how much risk there is when Apple's net cash balance stands at $137 billion -- and is on its way to $200 billion in a few years. Management has started dropping hints that shareholder-friendly moves are coming, which usually means stock buybacks or big dividend boosts.
Still, even as Apple carries relatively minor risk, it's not clear what kind of upside investors should expect either. As I noted a couple days ago, competition is gaining on Apple, which could lead to market share erosion and falling margins as price cuts ensue. Continue reading "Forget Apple, This Rival Is a Much Better Bargain"
