Think of them as datapoints in a large survey. If you run the Teacher's Union Pension Fund with $10B, you can't just trust your internal team or one or two large advisors. You want to get as much information as possible about all the sectors of the economy, locally and globally. So instead of hiring 1000 people to do the research for you, you pay 10-20 different companies to access their newsletters, briefs, and suggestions, each of which is written by an analyst. If 75% of analysts say "Buy APPL" while 5% say "Sell APPL", rest being neutral, you can get an idea of what the general market sentiment is.
To put it simply, instead of asking Gruber what he thinks of Apple management, you ask HN, Slashdot, and Ars readers. Certainly none of us has connections like Gruber but it is "safer" in the sense that it is easier to justify to a board/shareholders why you lost money on Apple.
This is one of the reasons I like to follow Apple to much. The majority of people apply the same old presumptions and rules to them and yet Apple consistently proves them wrong. Rather than adjusting their understanding of the market, most people simply repeat their mistakes. It seems the people who realise something else is going on is in the minority. What gives?
I am definitely a fan of their products. But I try hard not to let that influence whether I think Apple will succeed or not.
To put it simply, instead of asking Gruber what he thinks of Apple management, you ask HN, Slashdot, and Ars readers. Certainly none of us has connections like Gruber but it is "safer" in the sense that it is easier to justify to a board/shareholders why you lost money on Apple.