Credit: Shutterstock photoActivist investor Carl Icahn yesterday announced that he's walking away from Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) , paving the way for Michael Dell to regain control.
Icahn's decision ends a battle for the beleaguered computer maker that has raged since March. With an 8.9% stake in Dell estimated to be worth $2.2 billion, Icahn had a lot to win or lose with Dell.
But it seems that his interests have shifted to another well-known tech company: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). The billionaire has acquired a $1.5 billion stake in Apple, and is advocating a sizable increase in the company's share buyback program. A larger buyback would increase the company's earnings by reducing the share count.
Now Dell is tiny compared with Apple. In fact, the market cap of Dell equals just 5% of Apple's market value. One of the few similarities between the companies is that both trade at 13-times this year's earnings. Compared with the S&P 500 index with a PE multiple of 16, and both companies are undervalued.
But given the possibility of Michael Dell turning around the struggling computer maker or Tim Cook and the Apple team creating new and innovative products, I'll take Apple any day of the week.
It looks like Icahn has placed the Icahn Enterprises (Nasdaq: IEP) chips on Apple as well. While I liked Apple a lot around $400, shares remain attractively priced today.
Full Disclosure: I personally own shares of Apple.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
