Is Apple still a growth stock?

“Given the fact one of the first posts I submitted for this blog was titled, ‘Why Apple Is Worth At Least $650,’ I couldn’t help but question a recent article saying Apple won’t hit $700 again. While it’s true my original post was from January of 2012, I figured roughly a year later is as good a time as any to revisit my original conclusion,” Chad Henage writes for The Motley Fool. “In the article called, ’4 Reasons Why Apple Won’t See $700 Again,’ the author makes four points to show why Apple won’t reach its prior levels.”

Slowing Growth In Phones: “Growth in phones is slowing as competition increases.” Since the iPhone lineup makes up 56% of Apple’s total revenue, a slowdown could cause the company’s revenue and earnings growth to change dramatically. However, when it comes to the mobile phone market, Apple is actually gaining market share on a global basis.

Shrinking Margins: The author suggests that Apple’s margins are shrinking because customers are choosing the cheaper iPhone 4 and 4S models over the iPhone 5. In addition, the iPad Mini is cannibalizing sales of the full sized iPad. One of these issues is real, the other is not.

Apple Is A Blue Chip And That’s A Problem How? I won’t address the article’s third issue, which was the loss of Steve Jobs, because it is what it is. No one can argue Steve Jobs was a brilliant mind, but nothing said about this would be productive… The author seems to assume that a fast growing company can’t pay a dividend or buy back shares. The truth is, Apple is being treated much worse than a blue chip stock.

Read more in the full article here.