http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/opinion-this-is-the-most-recommended-us-stock/ar-BBBOlAy
Apple is not the U.S. stock that is currently recommended by the greatest number of newsletter editors.
Believe it or not, it’s IBM (IBM) , which for years has represented in many investors’ eyes the kind of old, stodgy and washed-up company that nimble firms like Apple (AAPL) run circles around. But a surprisingly large number of market-beating newsletters editors I monitor think that view is unfair.
In essence, they argue that IBM is a growth company that trades like a value stock.
Many of the newsletter editors credit IBM’s “Watson” for much of the company’s growth potential. Gray Cardiff, editor of the Sound Advice newsletter, describes Watson as IBM’s artificial intelligence “super computer that can ‘think’ like a human.”
Notes Cardiff: “Watson cognitively scans a world of data and applies relevant information to what it learns about a company’s business and systems to create new revenue streams, reduce expenses, and make existing operations more efficient. We have only begun to see and imagine the uses of artificial intelligence. IBM is the leader in that field and on a solid path to provide a growing abundance of opportunities in the months and years ahead.”
John Buckingham, editor of the Prudent Speculator newsletter, adds that “the growth opportunity for the company’s Strategic Imperatives is high. Watson continues to impress with deployments in Health Care, Internet of Things and Financial Services.”
Despite such optimism, IBM stock in out of favor and trades solidly in the value camp. Its price/earnings ratio based on trailing 12 months’ earnings is 12.6, compared to almost double that for the S&P 500 (SPX) . IBM’s P/E based on estimated earnings for the next 12 months is even lower, at 11.1.
S---ERS BEWARE!!!!