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Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani raised his price target on Apple stock from $ 135 to $ 145.
Mladen Antonov / AFP via Getty Images
Wall Street becomes more optimistic
appealsay
upcoming earnings report.
Earlier this week, I took note of some analyst notes looking ahead to Apple (ticker: AAPL) financial results in December and raising their estimates and price targets. Late Wednesday, Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani took a turn and repeated his Outperform rating while raising his price target on the stock to $ 145 from $ 135.
As with the calls earlier this week from Canaccord and
Credit Suisse,
Daryanani has raised his expectations for the quarter, which will likely be reported in the last week of January. And like his peers, he mentions the early demand for the higher versions of iPhone 12.
Daryanani points to a combination of better-than-expected unit demand and higher-than-expected average selling prices, as consumer demand tends toward the higher Pro and Pro Max versions of the new phone line. He also notes ‘better service growth’, given the App Store’s increase in downloads by more than 30%.
‘What is important is that the demand does not just stay strong [the December quarter] but also expect that upside down in [the March quarter], ”Given extended lead times for the iPhone 12 Pro and, to a lesser extent, the Pro Max, he writes.
“The iPhone Pro has been shipping for two and a half months now, and our analysis indicates that the delivery time in every country we follow still remains, with the exception of the US,” writes Daryanani. He says Apple is offering same-day delivery on the iPhone Pro in the United States with special courier deliveries costing an additional $ 10, but that standard delivery still waits 21 days, a modest improvement from the 33-day wait in early December.
He notes that in China, the delivery period of the 12 Pro has decreased from 23 to 16 days – but still the longest delivery time of ten weeks after the launch for any iPhone in history. He notes that the basic iPhone 12 and the 12 Mini have shorter delivery times in all regions, “which may indicate a strong mix of cheaper iPhone 12 benefits.”
The Evercore analyst who was fired is looking for $ 104 billion in revenue and $ 1.43 per share in earnings for the quarter, above the Street consensus at $ 102 billion and $ 1.40 per share. He sees 80 million iPhone units for the quarter, with an average selling price of $ 775.
Apple shares rose 1.2% in recent trading, to $ 128.17. The
S&P 500
was 0.9% higher.
Write to Eric J. Savitz by [email protected]