Another week is coming to an end. In the past few trading days, Wall Street published a handful of research notes on Apple stock. Today, the Apple Maven looks at three key takeaways, one each from three publishing analysts.
At a high level, AAPL continues to be rated a strong buy, on average. However, with the recent rally in Apple stock, up 15% from $116 in a bit over one month, the upside potential has narrowed. Now, shares of the Cupertino company are only 12% away from reaching Wall Street’s consensus price target.
Figure 1: Summary of Wall Street ratings on Apple Stock
Insight #1: Services looking good
UBS reiterated its buy rating and price target of $142 (which also happens to be Apple’s all-time high) on Monday, April 12. The analyst sees upside opportunity of only 7% on the investment.
The research shop provided a read on demand for Apple’s services through its survey of the installed iPhone user base. The observations have been encouraging for fiscal second quarter results. Below is a quote from the analyst:
“Penetration of all six services we track increased year-over-year. iCloud (30%) and Music (27%), unsurprisingly the two most cited services iPhone users pay for, increased in 2021 despite being older services. Importantly, more recent offerings like Arcade, News, and TV+ all posted solid year-over-year increases in attach rate in all regions.”
Insight #2: China on fire
JPMorgan also confirmed its buy rating on Apple, with a price target of $150 (very much aligned with consensus) on Tuesday, April 13. The analyst sees upside opportunity of 12% on the stock.
The bank provided a glimpse into iPhone shipments in China this week. According to the analyst, March was a tough month of smartphone sales for the Cupertino company, down 7% year-over-year.
However, January and February should have been outstanding months for the iPhone. The bank sees shipments surging by 92% to 11.3 million units in fiscal second quarter. This points to another three-month period of strong performance in China, following a holiday quarter of recovery in the region.
Insight #3: Tactical outperform
Lastly, Evercore ISI doubled down on its buy rating and Street-high price target of $175 on Wednesday, April 14. The analyst sees Apple shares rising a sizable 30% from current levels, and has called the stock a “tactical outperform” ahead of earnings.
The research firm had nothing but bullish arguments to make about Apple this week. The two segments that the analyst believes will outperform expectations are the iPhone and services – the former, despite global supply chain disruptions, which the bank thinks Apple can navigate better than most.
Twitter speaks
When I wrote about Apple stock price possibly doubling in three years, I asked Twitter for an opinion on whether this would be feasible. Below are the poll results.
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(Disclaimers: this is not investment advice. The author may be long one or more stocks mentioned in this report. Also, the article may contain affiliate links. These partnerships do not influence editorial content. Thanks for supporting The Apple Maven)
