There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

April 13, 2010 - Apple Inc. (AAPL-NASDAQ) together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players, as well as sells various related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions.

The company sells to consumers, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative customers. As of September 26, 2009, it had 273 retail stores, including 217 stores in the United States and 56 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Apple, a conservative stock? Indeed. Look at these fundamentals: $24.796 billion in cash or $27.35 per share. No debt on the books. Solid growth: last 5 years, earnings averaged an increase of 90.5% annually. Next 5 years, analysts see an average improvement of "only" 23% a year. But that's probably because they don't know all the projects in the pipeline Apple is currently working on. There's a lot of comfort on owning a stock like this. But there is also volatility.

Here are only a few of the most recent products: iPad (sold 300,000 units in the first weekend offered); iPhone; iMac; iPod. This is no one hit wonder. There's a portfolio of products and their essential support and software that keeps this company highly profitable with lots of cash flow.

Revenues follow the same trend: 2007 finished with $24.006 billion, followed by $32.48 billion, then $36.537 billion. This year, analysts see $54.84 billion, then forecast $60.20 billion for 2011. Part of the jump between last year and this will come from new accounting Apple is using: it recognizes iPhone, iPod and Apple TV revenues immediately rather than deferring much of them for 24 months as it did with an older subscription-based accounting method.

The latest Apple device is the iPad, a cross between a smartphone and a laptop computer. Part of a new market the device is looking to take is the e-reader, in competition with Kindle. Analysts don't see it being as strong as the iPhone in total sales but forecast the unit to sell millions over the next 15 to 18 months. The iPhone will also get a boost when the latest version becomes available on other carriers outside of AT&T. The most likely new partner will be Verizon, according to the Wall Street Journal. The iPhone will run for some time as new apps are developed. Look for revenues to continue to climb for this device.

Another big plus for Apple: it's an international company with plenty of sales globally. Its clever devices are big hits in Japan, India, China, Europe, all countries with advanced wireless capabilities. If the U.S. economy stumbles again as it tries to recover from the latest recession, look for overseas sales to play an important role for Apple's continued success.

More numbers: Trailing P/E is 23.6 while the Forward P/E is 20.5. Price to sales is 4.69. Price to Book is 6.13. For the last 12 months, Operating margin was 28.61%, Profit margin was 20.04%. Return on Equity was 32%. Return on Assets was 17.27%. Current ratio is 2.55. Book value per share is $39.47. There are 906.79 million shares outstanding with a Float of 900.09 million. Insiders own less than 1% of the stock. Institutions have 73.1%. There is no dividend.

The stock is currently hitting an all-time high of $242.50. Investors already love it. But that's understandable since management consistently delivered great profits and products. With the new accounting rules, expect to see earnings jump noticably. While it's usually hard for conservative investors to buy stocks when they're trading at their highs, this is one stock that warrants attention, to find out why it's so well regarded, and why it might still be a good selection for conservative portfolios.

Company Web site: www.apple.com

- Ted Allrich