Apple is an Aging Prom Queen

In its heyday, all the boys (and all the girls) wanted to dance with Apple AAPL. Born to three very unique founders -- Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne -- Apple did not grow up in a typical American teceh household. The company had trouble fitting in and was initially ignored by its peers. After wearing a brand-new dress to its senior prom, Apple became the most popular kid in school. Prom does not last forever, however. Now that the last song has played and buckets of spilled punch have been mopped away, Apple has been left alone on an empty dance floor. "Apple is like that pretty woman that was the prom queen," John Kailunas, founder and CEO of Regal Financial Group, Regal Investment Advisors and Regulus Advisors LLC, told Benzinga. "As she matures a little bit, maybe she's not the prettiest girl in the room anymore, but she's still a very attractive lady and will continue to be attractive. She just changes and morphs as she ages." Kailunas said that he thinks that is what investors are seeing with Apple. "I think we're seeing some natural aging," he said. "It's still attractive, it's still positive. They've got good, strong leadership. They're reinvesting quite heavily back into the company. The fundamentals are strong. I think it's a great long-term play." When asked if this aging prom queen should settle down and have kids (that is, should Apple produce a few innovative products), Kailunas laughed heartily. "Yes, they should," he replied. "I always thought that Apple was a great innovator. When you look at things like the iPod… [It] was a small hard drive that they put music on and repackaged it. I could see them continuously doing that. "Apple TV, some of the things they're looking at -- I think there's some of that coming. I think they're being a little bit coy in some of their press releases, some of their announcements -- I think they're sandbagging it a little bit." Kailunas firmly believes that innovative products are coming -- it is just a matter of when. "I do expect to see some innovative products coming," said Kailunas. "I don't think the innovation died with Steve Jobs. I think it's still living in the culture and the heart of the company, and I think we're going to see some unique things from them in the future." Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ