Don't Forget - AAPL Is a Top Retailer, Too

For all the attention that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) gets, many forget that one of its core strengths is its retailing operation.

"They take retail operations very seriously," Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael Robinson said in a Wednesday appearance on the FOX Business' "Varney & Co." program. "It's a big part of their operations, their sales success."

Most analysts expect record sales for Apple this quarter. That's one reason Apple stock has been trading near an all-time high lately. This week it reached another milestone when its market cap topped $700 billion for the first time.

Robinson pointed out that Apple's retail stores pull in nearly three times as much money per square foot as such retail powerhouses as Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) or Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH).

Robinson sees Apple's retail stores as just one catalyst that will propel AAPL stock to $142.85 - the equivalent of $1,000 a share before the 7-to-1 split that took place earlier this year.

To find out how Robinson thinks investors should play AAPL stock now, watch the video below.

The Mobile Payment Wars Are Here: Now that Apple pay has arrived, mobile payments will really start to take off. BI Intelligence estimates mobile transactions will grow from $4.5 billion this year to $189 billion in 2018. With numbers like that, a lot of companies will be fighting over the spoils. And we've identified the winners...

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