Apple is no longer the growth company it once was despite still being a great income generator, according to New York University’s Aswath Damodaran. “Apple has returned more than $600 billion in cash over the last decade, which makes it the greatest cash machine in history,” Damodaran told CNBC’s ” The Exchange ” on Monday. “So I like the company as a cash machine, but not as a growth engine.” Apple shares slid Monday following reports of softer demand for the tech giant’s new iPhone 16 model, after first-weekend orders for the phone unveiled just last week were shown to be down on a year-over-year basis. The stock was last lower by 2.8%. One factor is because Apple Intelligence, a selling point for the new iPhones, is not available with the release. It’s expected to launch next month, in beta mode. AAPL 1D mountain Apple The “Dean of Valuation” expects Apple will continue to face challenges in its services business, as it struggles to keep pace with sales of iPhones. Still, the finance professor said Apple shares, which are higher by more than 12% this year, is reasonably priced. “I don’t think the stock is massively overvalued in any way, but I do think that all of those things are good, but you’re trying to fill in a really big space,” Damodaran said. “I mean, you can add the services business, but the amount of money that Apple makes in its iPhones is so immense that making up for it is not going to be easy, even with even with three new businesses.” “So the services business, the ecosystem that they have, has to be dramatically large for it to make up for the iPhone,” he said. “And that’s always going to be a concern when you invest in Apple.”
