Apple has topped expectations by a mile and a half when it reported fiscal first quarter earnings, on January 27. The Apple Maven covered the event via live blog, and shared some of the key takeaways a day later.
Today, we look at what Wall Street had to say about the financial results and the appeal of owning the stock at current levels.
Wall Street is bullish
First, note that many analysts have raised their price targets on Apple stock after earnings. A few examples include Barclay, from $116 to $138 per share; and Piper Sandler, from $135 to $160 apiece.
Apple is considered a “buy” by Wall Street analysts, with an average price target of about $145 per share. At $145, Apple has nearly 10% upside potential.
Analyst Jim Suva, from Citigroup, says:
“Apple continues to grow twofold: higher spending within its existing customers as well as new customers entering its ecosystem.”
Analyst Andrew Uerkwitz, from Oppenheimer, goes further:
“We believe Mac and iPhone have the most to gain, driven by Apple Silicon and 5G adoption, respectively.”
Analyst Kyle McNealy, from Jefferies, adds:
“An impressive quarter with more to come, as Apple is still in the early innings of selling 5G devices. The strong iPhone cycle could also continue to be a catalyst for more services and wearables revenue.”
Analyst Dan Ives, from Wedbush, offered some of his usual sports analogies:
“iPhone 12 success out of the gates was ‘Usain Bolt-like’ and is clearly on a path to meet the super cycle hype with iPhone units that could easily eclipse the previous Cupertino record from FY15 of 231 million units.”
Analyst Katy Huberty, from Morgan Stanley, is one of the most vocal Apple bulls. She says:
“Revenues should grow 10% per year through 2025, thanks to accelerating installed base growth, improved services monetization and a recovery in China. Higher gross margins are sustainable given growing FX tailwinds and a continued mix uplift across products.”
Twitter speaks
I have just finished running a poll in which I asked: “which Big Tech stock will come out of earnings week the strongest?” Here are the final results:
Read more from the Apple Maven:
(Disclaimers: 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)
