Apple stock hasn’t had the best time lately, rocked by a share sale from Warren Buffett, and fears over the ramifications of an antitrust ruling against Google. It’s time to forget that and focus on the main story of iPhone sales, according to one analyst.
Apple could be set to ship more than 90 million of the new iPhone 16 model after its expected initial launch this fall, beating original consensus expectations for 80 million to 84 million, according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.
“We are seeing more indications across the Asia supply chain this iPhone upgrade cycle could be a historical one, setting the stage for a supercycle as currently we estimate roughly 300 million iPhones globally have not upgraded in over four years,” Ives wrote in a research note.
Overall, Apple could sell more than 240 million iPhones in its fiscal 2025 year ending September, according to Ives. That compares with consensus expectations of close to 214 million, according to FactSet.
Ives maintained his Outperform rating on Apple stock, and $285 target price.
On Monday, shares rose 0.7% to $217.53. The stock has fallen 7.9% over the past month.
The news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway slashedits stakein Apple by nearly 50% in the second quarter likely contributed to the stock’s decline, puncturing enthusiasm around Apple’s plans to integrate AI into its devices, which investors and analystshave backedto boost iPhone sales.
Apple stock took another hit after a federal judge ruled that Google-parent Alphabet was a “monopolist.” Google plans to appeal the ruling.
While the ruling didn’t directly address Apple, Google pays the iPhone maker to make it the default search engine on its phones.
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