Analysts at Piper Sandler and Oppenheimer on Tuesday lowered their expectations for Apple’s sales in the first half of 2020 due to widespread disruptions from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, including weakening consumer demand. Apple has closed all retail stores outside Greater China until further notice after earlier closing those stores in Greater China earlier this year.
“Given the global uncertainty, we are reducing our estimates to account for the impact of the coronavirus on the company’s product revenue,” Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said in a note to clients. “While we lowered our estimates following the company’s announcement in mid-February, we feel demand softness has moved from China to the United States and Western Europe.”
Kumar is positive on Apple stock longer term because of the coming 5G iPhone upgrade cycle.
Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz cut his estimates for Apple sales for the March and June quarters. He cited multiple weeks of retail shutdowns and home quarantines.
“We continue to believe that Apple, with its strong brand, supply chain expertise, and ‘essential’ status for users, will recover more quickly than peers,” Uerkwitz said in a note to clients.
MacDailyNews Take: Analysts lowering Apple estimates is obviously a necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.