“Tim Cook forecasts iPhone sales growth in 2016,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune. “Here are excerpts from the notes we’ve seen.”
While there will continue to be worries around FY16 growth during this 6s product cycle as the “iPhone 6 hangover” thesis remains a lingering cloud over Cupertino’s head, we believe this quarter and guidance proves yet again how much fuel is left in the iPhone engine. Outperform. $175. — Daniel Ives, FBR
Apple guided Dec-15 revenue to $75.5-77.5 billion vs. the Street’s $76.8 billion and our expectation for guidance of $74-77 billion. CEO Tim Cook commented on the earnings call to expect iPhone units up y/y in December. We view this as a relief given investors were bracing for the start of the 6S cycle to be down meaningfully (down 5-8% y/y). Overweight. Raising price target to $179 from $172. — Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray
December quarter guidance implies iPhone unit and revenue growth on the back of 1) strength in emerging markets, including China, 2) continued upgrade cycle, with 69% of users yet to upgrade to larger screens, 3) record Android share gains, and 4) ASP uplift. Each of these factors should continue as iOS takes share in a maturing smartphone market. Our data also indicate Chinese users shifting to better smartphones and more U.S. users plan to upgrade this year than last year. As a result, Apple is expected to take record share in 2016. — Katy Huberty, Morgan Stanley
Many more excerpts from the analysts’ notes in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: With smartphones, as with personal computers, it seems that, given time, the cream rises.
Now, do these people realize that these numbers are in the billions of dollars? We are talking about a company planning to generate $75.5-77.5 billion in a single quarter!!! That’s $75.5-77.5 billion generated in roughly 90 days!!! And some of these analysts are niggling over a billion or so + or – difference in the consensus estimate? Puleeze. In other words: It doesn’t matter. Advise your clients to accumulate, then shut up and witness this singular juggernaut roll on, generating cash with historic ferocity, the likes of which this world has never seen.