While the relatively modest iPad updates might have led to a flurry of ‘Apple is doomed’ reports from analysts, an early roundup by Fortune suggests that the consensus view so far remains positive. Most are rating it a buy or overweight – meaning they expect it to outperform typical stocks – with the majority setting a target price in the $112-120 range …
While Wall Street may have been slightly disappointed by some of the numbers Apple reported yesterday, they should feel reassured by Apple stabilising and growing its gross margins, say Apple bulls – analysts who expect the stock price to rise.
Business Insider noted the above chart tweeted by Benedict Evans with the commentary:
Very stable long-term gross margins. Painful contrast to rest of the industry …
Photo: USA Today
Early overnight reports collated by Fortune unsurprisingly show analysts pleased by the higher-than-expected iPhone numbers, with five out of five rating the stock a buy, their price targets ranging from $75 to $252 above yesterday’s closing value. Apple reported iPhone sales of 43.7B against expectations of 38B, and revenue of $45.6B against the consensus estimate of $43.5B.
Katy Huberty, Morgen Stanley: Price target $630
Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray: Price target $640
Brian Marshall, ISI: Price target $600
Brian White, Cantor Fitzgerald: Price target $777
Peter Misek, Jefferies: Price target $625 …
Earlier this week, Apple announced a deal with GT Advanced Technologies to increase production of sapphire for use it’s in products. This production will take place in Apple’s new Arizona facility. Via AllThingsD, as part of an earnings call on Monday, GT shed some light on just how big this deal is for both companies.
As Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White noted today, GT’s sapphire business accounted for 11 percent of its year-to-date sales — about $28.9 million in revenue. But, in forecasting 2014 revenue, the company said it expects to make $600 million to $800 million, with 80 percent of those sales attributable to its sapphire business.
This means that GT’s sapphire business will generate between $480 – $640 million of the company’s 2014 revenue, an increase of almost twenty-times compared to 2013. An increase this large implies Apple has a much bigger vision for sapphire than what it uses it for today.