Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), two of Wall Street’s true heavyweights, have long been mainstays of many investors’ portfolios. Even the lay investor knows that, which is why they’re perhaps the two stocks my investing-agnostic friends and family members most frequently ask me about. Specifically, what they ask is: which is the better long-term investment going forward? With that in mind, I thought it might be useful to break it down with an Apple vs. Amazon stock tale of the tape.
There’s a lot to like about both companies, of course.
Apple remains a cash cow, generating $105 billion in gross profits over the last 12 months, and is at the tail end of a $480 billion stock buyback plan in an effort to flex its financial muscle and lure more investors (hint: it’s working!).
Here’s a closer look at AAPL and AMZN, broken into a few key numbers:
Tale of the Tape: Apple vs. Amazon Stock
Trailing P/Es: AAPL 32, AMZN 67
Forward P/Es: AAPL 27, AMZN 59
Latest earnings growth: AAPL 110%, AMZN 220%
Latest sales growth: AAPL 53.6%, AMZN 43.8%
Cash per share: AAPL $4.18, AMZN $145.28
Institutional ownership: AAPL 58%, AMZN 59%
On current and future value, AAPL clearly has AMZN beat. And Apple’s sales accelerated at a faster pace in the latest reported quarter (note: both companies will release Q2 earnings results next week), mostly because Amazon’s never dipped during the pandemic (in fact, they improved), while Apple struggled with supply-chain shutdowns in China and elsewhere amid lockdowns. But Amazon exactly doubled Apple’s earnings growth in the latest quarter, and has infinitely more cash per share despite having a comparable amount of total cash. From a fundamental perspective, that’s basically a push. So let’s move to the technical side.
Despite a brief slip, Amazon stock has been immune to the virus, touching as high as 3,500 a share (!) last September before pulling back below 3,000 this March amid a 12% Nasdaq correction. It has rebounded with authority since, though it’s still up just 13% in the last year. Apple stock has performed better, and also easily outperformed the Nasdaq with a 49% one-year return. With both stocks appearing to bounce back after brief dips, I think Apple stock has more potential in the short term given its more appealing valuation. But over the long haul, I prefer AMZN in the battle of Apple vs. Amazon stock.
AMZN Stock is the Winner
And we’re talking about the long run here, not just the next six to nine months. Both AAPL and AMZN are stocks you’d be wise to hold in your long-term or retirement portfolio. But Amazon stock was growing faster than AAPL before the coronavirus. Now that the pandemic has mercifully slowed (at least in the U.S.) and business has returned to something close to normal, I think Amazon still has the more diversified list of offerings, and the stock is actually cheaper than it’s been on a valuation basis in years.
