[itsoktocry]

>I'm probably misunderstanding aspects here though.

Yes, it's not as simple as "the company will make profits, therefore it's worth a lot".

Apple's expected forward p/e is ~28 over the next five years, which means if you believe that and buy now, you can expect an average return of 3.5%. How much you expect future earnings to grow determines if buying now is a good deal or not.