This Hedge Fund Manager Is 'Increasingly Confident In The Success Of Apple Watch'

Loading...
Loading...

Ahead of the Apple Inc. AAPL "Spring Forward" Event, Benzinga spoke with Lemelson Capital Management Chief Investment Officer Rev. Emmanuel Lemelson. The investor shared some of his thoughts on the event and the anticipated Apple Watch.

Lemelson believes that the event will have its primary focus put on the Apple Watch, "undoubtedly the best wearable device to ever be conceived." He expects management to elaborate on "important details of functionality and ancillary issues such as battery life and pricing."

"There is a small possibility that some other minor product updates may be discussed as well (e.g. Apple TV, MacBook), but hard to say for sure, since any other announcements may detract from Apple Watch focus. Expect important improvements / changes to retail store layout(s) that will drive sales of new device," he said.

Apple Event LIVE Blog

How Will Investors React?

Lemelson said "it is impossible to know how investors will react in the near-term to the Apple Watch event today (the hallmark of speculation is skittishness). However in the medium to long term, it seems likely that investors will react quite positively to the new product category as it's unique role is better understood."

He continued, "Hopefully AAPL will release early sales figures either at, or no later than Q1 CC. Further, the recent addition of AAPL to the Dow (and the commensurate recognition as a ‘blue-chip' should help drive increased mutual fund ownership in the issues [which has been relatively low])."

Some Thoughts On The Apple Watch

The investor said that he has become "increasingly confident in success of Apple Watch – it is clear that it will fulfill an important and emerging use-case for ‘lite notification' that will have nearly universal appeal. The PR and Media reaction has been compounding leading to nearly ubiquitous curiosity – causing Apple to be the recipient of unparalleled free publicity – this bodes well for prospective sales. If nothing else, the launch of the device will drive huge numbers of existing IOS users as well as those not yet acquainted with the eco-system into stores to ‘take a look.' The momentum is likely to continue to build on itself, giving Apple an extraordinary advantage in an emerging product category with enormous potential."

Disclosure: Lemelson Capital is long shares of Apple for its clients.

Javier Hasse and Brianna Valleskey contributed to this report.

Loading...
Loading...
Posted In: Analyst ColorExclusivesTechApple WatchEmmanuel LemelsonLemelson Capital ManagementSpring Forward
We simplify the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...