“Apple’s stock has taken a beating over the last few days — even dropping briefly on Wednesday to 20 percent below its high mark of $701.10 — but Jefferies analyst Peter Misek continues to have positive forecasts for the company,” Aabha Rathee reports for Wall Street Cheat Sheet. “The analyst reiterated his Buy rating and a $900 price target on the stock in a note to investors on Thursday after Apple stock closed at $558 on Wednesday.”
“According to Misek, the main reason for his optimism is his belief that Apple’s gross margin issues will be resolved this quarter,” Rathee reports. “In addition, the analyst says his checks indicate that the current iPhone 5 shortfall has been caused by assembly line issues at Hon Hai Precision Industries, and is thus easily solvable.”
Rathee reports that Hon Hai “idled about 50,000 employees due to component bottlenecks in the last quarter. But with those issues now alleviated, the manufacturer is trying to hire more people to meet the demand and Apple is paying Hon Hai higher amounts to do so.”
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