海角大神

Strong聽Apple聽products in the pipeline 鈥� and聽a possible dividend聽鈥� led one 鈥淔ast Money鈥� analyst to predict the company had a lot more upside in 2012.

聽鈥淚 definitely think a dividend is going to happen in calendar 鈥�12,鈥澛營SI analyst Brian Marshall聽said Tuesday, adding that most investors don鈥檛 expect one.

聽Apple last聽paid a cash dividend聽on its common stock in December 1995.

鈥淭hey could do a dividend of, say, 250 basis point-yield and only pay out 20, 25 percent of their free cash flow,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got tremendous flexibility here, obviously, and we think that would drive an incremental $4 billion of buying power to the stock, which is essentially the equivalent of a Top 10 holder. We think a dividend would be a material catalyst for the stock.鈥�

Shares of Apple traded upward of $409 midday, up more than 1 percent.

鈥淭hey still have tremendous opportunity to grow,鈥� he said.

Marshall, who had a $500 price target on the stock, said he expected聽launch of the iPad 3 in March and Apple TV聽in 2013, based on a three-year product cycle.

Marshall said the Apple TV will likely be a standalone flatscreen television set with an Apple interface, or 鈥渢he first product to seamlessly integrate the home office and the living room.鈥�

Trader Brian Kelly liked it.

鈥淭he trade is to buy,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was no hot stock or hot toy this year during the holiday season. It was the iPad, it was the iPhone, it was the (iPod Touch). They have it. People line up at the stores to buy their product. You keep buying it.鈥�

What鈥檚 On Deck for Cisco?

Marshall increased聽Cisco鈥檚聽price target on improved performance since the company reset expectations in August and maintained a 鈥渂uy鈥� rating on the stock.

鈥淚t was like a coiled spring,鈥� he said.

Federal spending was expected to increase in FY 2012. Marshall also liked Cisco鈥檚 positioning within the sector.

鈥淐learly data traffic is only going to grow 50 to 100 percent per year,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith their incumbency there, we still like Cisco here. We see another 20 percent upside to $22 in our view.鈥�

OptionMonster cofounder and 鈥淔ast Money鈥� pro聽Jon Najarian聽said he 鈥渓oved鈥� the stock, calling the company 鈥渙ne of the biggest cloud plays鈥� in the space.

Trader Joe Terranova noted that institutional ownership moved out of Cisco stock and into Juniper after disappointing earnings results in August but said he was an owner and expected growth on increased government spending.

New Leadership at IBM

Marshall said聽IBM鈥檚聽transfer of leadership to聽new CEO Virginia Rometty聽would be seamless.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say the company runs itself, but it鈥檚 got great operations,鈥� he said.

But at a valuation of 13 times earnings and roughly 80 percent of earnings coming from share repurchases, Marshall said the stock did not have a lot of upside left.

Marshall maintained a 鈥渘eutral鈥� rating on IBM and a price target of $32 per share.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to look for something with a little more secular growth in our view.鈥�

Najarian sounded positive on the new CEO coming from within its ranks.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a single thing not to like about the IBM strategy,鈥� he said, calling it a similar story to what happened at Apple. 鈥淚t speaks to the depth both of these two companies have.鈥�