I was wondering: What would happen to call option prices if Apple decided to spend its cash hoard (partly) on paying dividends? These would tank I guess.

In my opinion Mac growth is going be a standout as Apple rolls out new Apple stores around the world. They are extremely effective marketing machines for Apple product and many people around the world just aren't that familiar with the Macintosh and Apple. I am hoping that iPhone subscriber growth will pick up when they diversify away from AT&T exclusivity, but that is not guaranteed. It was said during the conference call that they don't expect the same increases with diversification of carriers in "all cases."

Although I think investors are less focused on iPod than they used to be, your commentary implies that iPod sales were disappointing. A closer look, however, reveals that iPod Touch sales were up over 50%! The lower margin iPod is being supplanted by the higher margin iPod Touch, meaning that although the absolute number of iPods sold decreased, the revenue from those sales was up.

Additionally, the change in accounting means that all analysts now have to revise their earnings estimates. A very quick and rough calculation by me indicates that Apple earnings this year will somewhere around $12 per share. For those who write that the stock is expensive at 33X last 4 quarters, you now have to wrap your mind around the fact that the p/e is actually something like 15-16X. Furthermore, if you strip out the cash per share-let's call it $40 per share for the sake of simplicity-the p/e drops to 13.

One last thing. The stock first hit $200 in December 2007. Based on Apple's revised numbers available on its website, we now know that AAPL earned $3.93 in 2007, $5.36 in 2008, and $9.08 in 2009. Today, the co. reported $3.67 for the 1Q of 2010. We all know that the selloff in the shares was completely unwarranted given the company's performance during the period 1/08 to present, but now the stock is again at $200 despite the fact that EPS will have risen by more than 100% by the end of this fiscal year. What? Find the dark cloud if you want, but I see the company's share price as a coiled spring ready to let go.

Good analysis, and cash on hand has always been high for them (extreme). I found it interesting that on the conference call it came out that somewhere around 58% of revenue came from outside the U.S. (as well as the usual dodging of many good investor questions).

Your points are well taken, and I agree. I was also referring to the slightly lower than expected iPhone number. The consensus was almost 8.9 million sold vs the actual of 8.7 million. Not a big deal, especially when you consider they added another $6 billion to the bank account.

The other thing is that these revised figures were mostly known, so I have to believe that most of this ultra performance was baked into the stock price. Perhaps putting it out there for the general public will charge up investor attitudes.