Apple’s stock price have rallied about 12% over the past two weeks, as investors turn their attention to the company’s upcoming Q221 earnings results. There are reasons to think more gains could follow as one analyst thinks Apple could crush Q221 earnings estimates.
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani this morning repeated his Outperform rating and $175 target price on Apple shares, while adding the stock to the firm’s Tactical Outperform list. The analyst thinks Apple is “well-positioned to report upside to March quarter estimates,” driven by strong performance by both iPhone and services, and despite ongoing component shortages.
“While the supply chain issues are real, we expect Apple will be relatively protected by its status as one of the largest electronics purchasers in the world,” Daryanani writes in a research note… Meanwhile, he notes that iPhone shipments in China were up 185% in the first two months of the quarter, while the App Store saw 32% growth in the quarter.
In short, Daryanani thinks Apple is positioned to report “sizable upside” versus expectations for the March quarter, with June guidance likely to be in line with expectations or better.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll see if Apple will return to providing quarterly guidance for Q321, which the company rightly suspended due to the response to COVID-19. As for Apple posting a “sizable upside” over earnings estimates bring it on!