Apple’s escape from AI spending fears costs 36 times earnings

An Expensive AI Refuge Avoiding the AI spending race has become an expensive refuge in Apple (AAPL). The shares have gained 12% over three months, and Will Merides argues that Apple escapes the hyperscalers’ questions about cash burn and returns on AI investment. Michael Santoli supplies the valuation tension: shares trade at 36 times earnings, but he expects 15% revenue growth, the strongest year since 2021. Investors are paying for distance from the spending problem; that leaves the strength of Apple’s own growth doing more of the work.

The Calendar Offers No Insurance Wednesday’s edition examined bullish equities alongside a rate-hike call; the latest podcasts introduce a different disagreement over whether the midterm calendar itself supports a rally. In its November 3 report, The Washington Post described falling global shares and U.S. futures alongside rising oil after defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. That rebound followed a week through Monday in which the United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO) fell 6% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) lost 2%. In a new call, Rashad al-Alimi expects the broad market to rise over the following year, leaning on the post-midterm historical record, though he also flags geopolitical risks. John Hardy’s latest assessment rejects the election cycle as a reliable guide because unusually strong preceding gains can leave a less favorable starting point—the calendar alone does not resolve that disagreement.

Earlier coverage: 2026-10-28: Gundlach turns bullish on stocks without giving up his December hike call

Clorox Only Needs Normal Clorox (CLX) does not need a return to peak profitability for Dave Sequeira’s valuation case to work: his margin forecast remains below its pre-pandemic average, yet he sees substantial upside if sales and margins begin normalizing. He puts the shares at 14 times forward earnings; the stock has already risen 12% over the past month, making evidence of that normalization the next test.

Cheaper Nvidia Loses A Bull A lower valuation no longer persuades Ed Elson, who has flipped from bullish to bearish on Nvidia (NVDA). He now sees its interconnected financing relationships and growing dependence on fundraising as vulnerabilities to a change in market sentiment, enough to keep him from buying despite the multiple’s contraction. With shares down 14% over a month, his objection is to the financing structure, not simply the price.

Google’s Model Call Settles Peter Diamandis’s October 31 assessment that Google, part of Alphabet (GOOG), had regained AI leadership matched the October best-model market’s YES settlement. His argument rested on Gemini’s benchmark performance; he also disclosed Google’s sponsorship of the podcast and said it had no editorial control. This settled the model-leadership call, not an investment thesis or a broader forecasting record.