Apple shares are once again flirting with a new all-time high, as Wall Street analysts continue to boost earnings expectations for the June quarter and beyond.
Citigroup analyst Jim Suva weighed in on Tuesday with a report offering five reasons Apple shares can trade higher, as he repeated his Buy rating and lifted his price target on the stock to $400 from $310.
Here’s Suva’s list of Apple catalysts:
• The 5G iPhone launch
• Potential for market share gains: “We forecast that share gains from Huawei (given restrictions on using North American chip technology, which would result in its smartphone sales being halted) could result in incremental sales of ~$8 billion to Apple. Huawei targets the mid- to high-end market segment, and hence its customers would likely shift to brands in a similar segment,” Suva writes.
• Wearables growth
• Services: “Apple Services continues to accelerate, specifically with the App Store (about 30% of Services revenue), as engagement with apps continues to accelerate,” he writes.
MacDailyNews Take: COVID-19 might well turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Apple as it not only taught the company that, yes, many employees actually can effectively work from home, but it also focused the minds of analysts and investors on quality companies and, therefore, on Apple, in particular. As they searched for safe havens, the COVID-19 panic seems to have revealed the strength of Apple’s myriad business segments (finally!) to many analysts and investors.