Raymond James analyst Chris Caso cut his Apple price target to $305 from $360, citing expectations of slower iPhone and wearables demand due to the, you guessed it, COVID-19 pandemic.
Caso reiterated his outperform rating on Apple. “Our checks suggest iPhone component order cuts on the order of 15% of prior expectations,” Caso wrote in a note to clients. “Prior to the [COVID-19] crisis, we believe Apple had been forecasting upside to Q2 build plans.”
He said he still expects an iPhone launch in the fall, but at a lower volume.
For all of 2020, Caso expects total sales to decline 2% from 2019, while the FactSet sales consensus of $265.2 billion implies 1.9% growth.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, it’s hardly surprising to see Raymond James cut their price target on Apple from $360 due to very significant COVID-19 headwinds. The sooner we can all get back to work, in relative safety*, the better.
*Nothing is perfect on this rock. We need both a functioning economy and COVID-19 mitigation to coexist as best as humanly possible. This is not an “either/or” issue, this is a “how do we do both the best we possibly can.” We need a nuanced pre-vaccine mitigation plan – social distancing, masks, work from home as much as possible, no handshakes, frequent hand washing, hand sanitizer everywhere, travel limits, etc. – for when this temporary lockdown ends, as it must, many months before a vaccine is available.