Write an introduction and next action / Message
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So What? (Introduction)
How does Apple compare to Googlefinancially?
As per your request, I conducted a comparative financial analysis of Apple to a competitor of my choosing. I selected Google because it is a direct competitor in devices market. As result of my analysis, I found that while both companies are growing, Google is more efficient at generating growth. This conclusion was reached due to Google's higher earnings-per-share, and consistent level of net income growth.
What's the Story? (Body)
What is your rationale for selecting a competitor?
When choosing a competitor to compare to Apple, we wanted to select a company that competes in the devices market—not necessarily in terms of hardware, but for the software that run the devices. While Apple has 43.6% of the U.S. market share for smartphones, Google maintains a 52.9%for all devices running the Android operating system and a 70% market share world-wide (Drew, 2014). This has allowed Google to leverage its strength as a web services company to market an integrated operating system(Drew, 2014).
Indices used to compare Apple and Google
Stock Price
Apple and Google have experienced growth in stock price that has outpaced the NASDAQ index average of 17% (Google Finance, 2014a). Apple’s stock price has grown 45.17% compared to Google’s 31.6%. Jeff Reeves, an analyst for Market Watch attributes Apple’s stock growth to several factors, "momentum, enterprise, mobile OS profit, cash on-hand, emerging markets, and buybacks" (2013, para. 3). Additionally, Reeve’s describes that Google’s growth is being driven by seven important factors, "Mobile OS domination, cash on-hand, health technology, automation, and new businesses" (Reeves, 2014b, para. 2).
Quick Ratio
Both Apple and Google are able to liquidate assets to cover their short-term liabilities. Apple’s quick ratio is well below the industry average of 1.77; meaning that they are spending capital to maintain growth (Reuters, 2014). In contrast, Google’s quick ratio of 4.55 exceeds the standard, indicating the company may be experiencing top-line growth, which is not surprising given that Google has experienced 25% increase in ad revenue (Drew, 2014, para. 1). Both companies have enormous cash and asset reserves, $125 billion to $65 billion respectively (Reeves, 2014a; Reeves, 2014b). However, Apple has been spending heavily on dividends (1.8% yield), a stock buyback, and the acquisition of Beats Electronics for $3 billion (Hellman, 2014, para. 1).
Earnings-per-share
Google has a significantly higher earnings-per-share at 38.13 compared to Apple’s 6.45 (NASDAQ, 2014a; NASDAQ, 2014b). However, a side-by-side comparison does not tell the whole story. When looking at the number of shares outstanding Google achieves a high EPS with a relatively low number of shares outstanding at 678.28 M (NASDAQ, 2014a). In contrast, Apple’s EPS is achieved through a much higher number of shares outstanding at 5.86 B (NASDAQ, 2014b). This means that Google is significantly more efficient at generating income.
Price-to-earnings ratio
Apple and Google have relatively equivalent price-to-earnings ratios at 16.04 and 15.08 respectively (NASDAQ, 2014a; NASDAQ, 2014b). These ratio are much lower the industry average of 27.8 demonstrating that inventors feel that both companies are a more stable investment than the industry as a whole. Both companies have low debt and ready access to large reserves of cash and equity (Reeves, 2014a; Reeves, 2014b).
Net Income
Net-income growth for Apple and Google contrast heavily; Google posted net income growth of 32.7% from 9.736 billion (2011) to $12.92 billion (2013) (NASDAQ, 2014b). In contrast, Apple’s net income has declined by -5.32% from $41.73 billion to $39.51 billion (NASDAQ, 2014a). While Google’s growth has been robust due to its increased ad revenue, Apple’s decline shows signs of inefficiency at generating income. This is due to an 8% decline sales of iPads(Villapaz, 2014).
What's Next? (Next Action)
Hopefully, I demonstrated that both companies are growing; however, Google is more efficient at generating growth. As such, Google is the better investment of the two companies. If you have any questions, or if you'd like to arrange a time to discuss my analysis please feel free to contact me at .
References
Drew, J. (2014, August 15). Google Inc. Value Line report.
Retrieved from
Hellman, J. (2014, October 3). Apple Inc. Value Line report.
Retrieved from
Google Finance. (2014). [Table Industry Index Averages November 1, 2014]. Industry Index Data
from NASDAQ. Retrieved from
NASDAQ. (2014a). [Table Apple Financial Indices November 1, 2014]. Apple Financial Index Data from NASDAQ. Retrieved from
NASDAQ. (2014b). [Table Google Financial Indices November 1, 2014]. Google Financial Index
Data from NASDAQ. Retrieved from
Reeves, J. (2013, December 11). 10 reasons to buy Apple stock now. Marketwatch. Retrieved
from
Reeves, J. (2014, June 30). 7 reasons to love Google's stock again. Marketwatch. Retrieved
from
Reuters. (2014). [Table Industries Within Technology Sector November 1, 2014]. Industry Index
Data from NASDAQ. Retrieved from
Villapaz, L. (2014, July 30). Here's why sales of Apple's iPad are Crashing. International Business
Times. Retrieved from