Analysts upbeat on Apple following Tim Cook’s major management shuffle

Tiernan Ray reports for Barron’s, “Amit Daryanani with RBC Capital Markets reiterates an Outperform rating on Apple shares and a $750 price target, observing, ‘While there will be concerns around future execution given Mr. Forstall’s departure, we note that AAPL has navigated through past turnovers impeccably (Jon Rubentein, Tony Faddell, etc.).’ Daryanani opines Apple will move past “Mapgate” and that the executive team now in place is capable of doing what needs to be done.”

Ray reports, “JP Morgan‘s Mark Moskowitz this morning reiterates an Overweight rating and a $770 price target, writing that ‘There is likely to be a spirited debate in coming days over the potential fall-out’ of the Mapgate ‘debacle,’ ‘but we are encouraged to see CEO Tim Cook making swift decisions and holding decision-makers accountable.'”

MacDailyNews Take: As are we! Go, Tim go!

Ray reports, “Moskowitz thinks Jony Ive’s sticking around is a big relief to investors. Barclays Capital‘s Ben Reitzes thinks Cook is just ‘assembling his team:’ We believe that this move really puts in place ‘Tim Cook’s team’ vs. one he inherited. We are particularly pleased to see increased responsibilities for Jony Ive, arguably the best designer in the world. We continue to believe Apple has a deep bench of talent that can continue to execute in a manner consistent with investor expectations […] While the headlines may raise some concerns about the stability of leadership to investors, we believe that the changes may actually be rather well received by Apple employees and expect Tim Cook to play an active role in making sure the retail operation doesn’t skip a beat.

“The only really negative voice heard from today is Trip Chowdhry of the boutique research shop Global Equities Research,” Ray reports. “Chowdhry has a fairly dire outlook on Apple, and the shake-up in management, writing that the loss of Forstall is “a major blow to Apple,” opining that Forstall was responsible for the ‘skeuomorphic’ design style that led to things such as the wood-paneled bookshelf of iBooks, which ‘propelled Apple iBookStore ahead of Amazon.com‘s Kindle.'”

MacDailyNews Take: Once a Chowderhead, always a Chowderhead. He can’t even come up with halfway cogent reasons for why Apple and Appel products are or are not successful. Saying that a “wood-paneled bookshelf” is what “propelled Apple iBookStore ahead of Amazon.com‘s Kindle” is the mark of a true idiot. Trip Chowdhry couldn’t analyze his way out of a wet paper bag.

Read more in the full article here.

14 Comments

  1. Trip Chowdhry is a paan munching, chicken curry eating, maruti driving idiot from the slums of Dharavi India. brainless excuses like the one he dished out about the ibook wood panel is what is expected from such a slum dog citizen. the reason the ibooks is better then the kindle is because of the content, ecosystem, pricing and the whole experience apple offers over the kindle.

  2. All I can say it really sucks being an AAPL shareholder this October. I won’t sell my shares but damn it hurts to see it fall so much.

    So much for October being a great month for AAPL stock

      1. It certainly tries one’s patience. But on the other hand, if for some reason I owned no Apple stock right now I’d be knocking people down to get to the window and buy as much as I could, which makes it a little bit easier to ride out the storm.

  3. Analysts upbeat = stock nosedives
    Analysts upgrade and raise = stock nosedives
    Tech pundits upbeat = stock nosedives
    Product rave reviews = stock nosedives
    Products sold out = stock nosedives
    Store long lines = stock nosedives
    Blown out demand = stock nosedives

    Why, oh why?

    None of the above means diddly squat to investors unless Cook fesses up on supply screw-ups and gives specific assurances on when supply will meet demand.

    1. It is ultimately about being able to supply the demand. There are many other important issues but supply stands head and shoulders above everything else. That’s the big kahuna. Upbeat news on that front and the stock will jump. It’s about supply.

  4. Tim Cook with absolute control over the supply chain.
    Johnny Ive with absolute control over the software and hardware design.

    I really can’t think of a better way to follow Steve Jobs leadership at Apple.

  5. Actually I thought Apple was accussed of copying the Bookshelf from an app on the app store. Forget the name now, its been too long.

    But the horrific look of iCal with the leather I think is stupid and that was supposedly Forstall. Doesn’t match the rest of the OS. I’m fine with him leaving I just worry about him going to Google, RIMM, etc!

    1. I kind of like the iBooks wood grain, but iCal’s leather stitching and torn pages was ridiculous, and the Passbook shredder was over the top. Please!

      In his presentations, I did feel that Scott Forstall at times was a tad too gleeful in introducing his intrusive skeuomorphic designs, as if to say “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

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