Apple Enters Period Of Dramatic Change

What an incredible stock Apple has been in the 21st century. There have been 10 red line buy signals, all good ones. The overall gain is ginormous, and the shares are still hitting new peaks.

Now we have a massive something new to drive the Apple share price even higher, arguably a double something new. Long-time (15 years) CEO, Tim Cook, is stepping up in September to become executive chairman. The new CEO will be 51-year-old, John Ternus, a grizzled James Bond lookalike and his partner in crime, to drive Apple in an exciting new direction is Johny Srouji, who has been appointed to the newly created post of chief hardware engineer. This is a job that was effectively done by John Ternus before his promotion and points clearly to the new direction Apple will be taking.

Under Tim Cook, a genius in building the supply chain that helped Apple scale so rapidly, much of Apple’s focus was on selling a growing range of services, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple TV, the App Store to build recurring service income. This went down well with investors and helped the shares keep climbing.

But the new duo, with their background in hardware, are more in the mould of founder Steve Jobs, and unlike him, they are engineers; he was an inspired designer. This focus on products is more in line with the zeitgeist of the age, maybe more risky, but it promises great excitement if the big bets are successful.

John Ternus sees a great future.

This is an especially exciting moment for Apple Inc. As Tim mentioned, we have an incredible roadmap ahead. And while you are not going to get me to talk about the details of that roadmap, suffice it to say, this is the most exciting time in my 25-year career at Apple Inc. to be building products and services. There are so many opportunities before us, and I could not be more optimistic about what is to come.

And remember that Apple is now developing products based on its own silicon, which opens many possibilities. Speaking for myself, I use everything Apple: Apple Macbook Airs, iPhones (I am on 15 at the moment), Airpods (I think mine is the Airpod 3), Apple TV. I am ready to buy if they come up with exciting new products, and like many people, I am not especially price sensitive, though, helped by my daughters, I do use second-hand markets, which can offer incredible value.

I am learning to do the same with clothes. I am buying some seriously expensive, and often brand new, designer kit without breaking the bank. It is like looking for exciting stocks to buy or exciting songs to add to my Spotify list, which is now over 9,700 songs.

As an aside, I am listening to Country Angel on Spotify. The songs are awesome, but who is Country Angel?

“Country Angel” is a widely popular traditional country music project known for reviving classic sounds from the 1960s to the 1990s. The project utilizes a blend of modern production tools and AI-assisted vocal and instrumental arrangements to create its traditional aesthetic.

I guess this is the future taking us brilliantly into the past. It is all a bit fake, but I love it. They do it so well. If there is a problem, it is that it is almost too perfect. There is a lack of gravel in the voices as they chorus together.

As another aside, Nvidia generated almost $50bn in free cash flow for the latest quarter, so around $200bn annualised. Those are staggering numbers and explained why the group has announced a huge hike in the dividend and an $80bn share buyback. OK, these are symptoms of a maturing growth company, but that is no different from the point that Apple reached years ago. No reason why the shares cannot climb higher, and most likely they will with the AI revolution still in explosive growth mode.

Listen to Jensen Huang on what is happening.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is setting off what he described as the “largest infrastructure buildout in human history,” as companies and governments pour trillions of dollars into the computing power needed to run AI systems in real time.

Speaking with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Huang said the buildout will span data centers, chip factories and so-called “AI factories,” adding that the shift is still in its early stages.

“We are seeing just incredible demand. And what’s going on around the world is that AI, as you know, is a layer cake. It starts at energy, then chips – the layer that we’re at – infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, land power… building data centers,” Huang said on Wednesday.

“President [Donald] Trump wants to re-industrialize the United States. And AI is really a perfect time to do it,” he added. “The thing that’s really important to recognize is that this is the largest infrastructure buildout in human history. It’s really unbelievable. It’s a perfect time for the United States to jump on this because it allows us to bring jobs home… Workers, plumbers, electricians, network technicians, construction workers, designers, architects. It’s going to create lots and lots of jobs.”

What more can he say about how insanely exciting what is happening is? I want to live forever to experience it. Meanwhile, you have to own the shares. They may wobble around because most investors are mad or playing to short -term agendas, but they are obviously a sensational investment. So much so, as the shares track sideways while sales and profits explode, that I would not be surprised if Warren Buffett joins the party at some point.

He would then own shares in two of the world’s largest and most exciting technology businesses.

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