When I bought Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) in early 2012, the stock was in the midst of a remarkable rise. Anticipation built that it would soon pay a dividend for the first time since 1995.
Apple shares would nearly double in the year following Steve Jobs' death in October 2011, in large part because the company was expected to begin paying dividends, which Jobs had long opposed. Back then, the world seemed to be Apple's oyster. The company was flush with cash, posting giant margins; fanboys eagerly awaited the latest phone releases, and excitement swirled around the next transformative product to come out of Cupertino.
Five years later, Apple is still a profit machine, but much of the brand halo and innovation that used to surround the company has evaporated. I sold most of my stake in the stock before the iPhone X announcement, but the news typified many of the reasons I dumped my shares. The market's reaction, sending the stock down two days in a row, was a natural response to the boring incrementalism that has typified the Tim Cook era.
Source: Fool.com