Fund managers unconvinced by Apple rebound

Apple, once a can't-miss stock, is finding it tough to persuade portfolio managers to come back into the fold. The company's shares are up 17 per cent for the year, nearly three times the performance of the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 stocks index over the same time. Yet the company remains one of the most significantly underweighted stocks among large cap fund managers. Part of the reason for a lack of portfolio manager enthusiasm is that Apple Ink no longer seems to be the hot growth company of old, fund managers say. It has not introduced a truly new device since the iPad in 2010. In 2012, it began paying a dividend, typically a sign of a company whose days of rapid growth are behind it. Apple reports results for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday, July 22. Wall Street is expecting revenue of $38 billion in the June quarter, up about 7.5 per cent from a year earlier. The company will also provide a forecast for the current quarter: on average, analysts are estimating revenue in the quarter will grow 8 per cent to $40.4 billion. The company's profits come mainly from its line of iPhones, which faces more competition from Samsung and a coterie of up-and-coming Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi, smartphone makers that are grabbing market share - particularly in Asia - with reasonably priced yet capable devices, according to Reuters.