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Should you sell Apple and buy Google?

Investors should consider selling Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares and using the profits to buy Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). The reason is that Apple's current price reflects more of its growth potential than does Google's.

This is the idea that occurred to me this afternoon while CNBC's Erin Burnett interviewed me about whether to sell Apple stock. As I posted this morning, I am very impressed with Apple's success with its retail stores. I am also wowed by the popularity of its iPod and iPhones -- not to mention the growing market penetration of its Macs. Moreover, as I mentioned to Erin, despite some 85 new services, Google is essentially a one service company.

So why should investors consider selling Apple and buying Google? In a word, valuation. Having risen 144% in the last year, Apple trades at a Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio of 1.8 -- on a P/E of 50.6 and earnings growth of 28% to $6.45 in the Fiscal Year Ending September 2009. By contrast, Google -- which his increased 55% in the last year -- trades at a PEG of 1.5 -- with a P/E of 55.6 on earnings forecast to grow 36% in 2008.

But Google is almost twice as profitable as Apple. While Apple earned a net profit margin of 14.6% on its $24 billion in sales over the last year, Google's net margin was 27% on its $15 billion in revenues. Therefore, Google's net income of $4 billion was higher than Apple's $3.5 billion.

And with its success, analysts are raising the expectations bar on Apple -- making it increasingly difficult for it to exceed expectations. For instance, in the quarter ending December 2006, Apple exceeded earnings expectations by 46% and it has beaten expectations in each quarter since -- but by a lower amount. In the quarter ending September 2007, Apple beat by 20%. Eventually, analysts' expectations will rise to the point where Apple can no longer exceed them.

And since there's no clear new product introduction for 2008 -- such as the iPhone in 2007 -- to enable Apple's growth, it may make sense to take profits and put them in a faster growing company with higher profit margins -- such as Google.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Apple or Google securities.

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Last updated: December 01, 2008: 10:47 AM

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