UBS Group AG in a note to clients on Monday lowered its Apple stock rating to “neutral” from “buy,” while raising its Apple target price to $190 from $180.
Subrat Patnaik for Bloomberg News:
Even as Apple Inc.’s shares have powered their way to a fresh record high, worries over cooling demand for iPhones and sputtering growth at its services business have left the biggest US company with the fewest bullish analyst ratings in more than two years.
UBS Group AG is the latest broker to take a step back, cutting the technology behemoth this week to neutral from buy. That leaves Apple with buy ratings from 67% of the analysts who follow the company, the lowest since late 2020 and the worst among megacap peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
iPhone and Mac demand could come under pressure in the second half of the year, while growth at its services unit —- which includes the app store, Apple Music, Apple TV and other subscription products — is slowing, UBS’s David Vogt said in a report dated Monday.
While he nudged his price target on the stock higher to $190 from $180, this implies only a 3% gain from Monday’s close.
“We do not believe Apple shares offer a compelling risk/reward particularly in light of soft iPhone, PC, and app store fundamentals over the next 6-12 months,” Vogt wrote.
MacDailyNews Note: On August 31, 2020, when Apple hit a new all-time intraday high of $131.00, its P/E Ratio stood at 39.15. Apple’s PE Ratio, at a new all-time closing high of $183.79 on Monday, stands at 31.15.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Another financial moron … let’s review their past reccos. No one needs an iPhone … Apple computers will hit a wall … Apple will never overtake the Chinese market. It’s about the eco-system you idiots!!! BUY APPLE it will be at at least $250 next year. Or don’t so I can gobble all the shares. Wall Street has never and will never understand the greatness of Apple. Oh yeah the latest … their VR is too expensive. It’s not VR … its a computer in your glasses … see 4 years from now when it become the next iPhone. Morons
Exactly….!!!!
Perhaps they are hoping for a dip so they can get it……..EEEEEEdiotsss…!!!
You’re making the mistake of assuming the stock market is rational and only cares about great products and services. AAPL has been the most manipulated major stock in history. It’s now back near its all time high, set about 18 months ago… While the stock should be higher, I don’t see it breaking $200 before 2024 and more likely it’ll drop about 20% first before it slowly rises back to about where it is now.
I sold some AAPL at $145 a few months ago and bought TSLA at $200. A lot more volatility in the latter but it’s up over $50 a share vs. Apple’s $35 in the same period. I can see TSLA breaking $300 this year, AAPL will split again before it ever gets close to that. As exciting as Apple Vision is, it’s not going to add more than a couple billion to their bottom line over the next few years. Forget the Apple Car as a major revenue source this decade, if it’s ever released. They’re years behind Tesla and even Ford/GM. iPhone is the golden goose then iPads/Macs and services for the foreseeable future.
“I sold some AAPL at $145 a few months ago and bought TSLA at $200. A lot more volatility in the latter but it’s up over $50 a share vs. Apple’s $35 in the same period.”
You do realize that these two scenarios represent exactly the same return, right?
No, 25% vs. 24%. As of today Tesla is up 29% vs. Apple’s 25% since the aforementioned transaction, and 140% vs 44% YTD. Tesla launched no new products while Apple had the most significant product launch since the iPhone. The $200 TSLA shares were the highest price I paid, the rest I bought were at $150-170. I’m not saying sell all your Apple and buy Tesla, but when Apple was cheap earlier this year you should have been buying TSLA instead for a much greater upside.
A 31.15 P/E ratio for the company that just showed the keystone computing platform of the future, with 100 new Apple businesses ready to spring from it (from music, sports and films, to games, productivity, and things we can’t even imagine yet).
And I don’t believe the future of AI is in a chat-style interface. AI’s greatest expression is going to be through platforms like our phones, wearables, and immersive experiences. All roads lead through Apple’s platforms.
There’s so much Apple hasn’t even hinted at yet:
Apple Vision + location services = ?? (enhanced shopping? virtual retail?)
Apple Vision + AI = ?? (virtual pets? virtual companions?)
Yes, Apple will be the best, but they won’t be the only. As we’ve seen with every other platform, the great unwashed will be content with “good enough” for cheaper.
I’m not so sure. There will be toys on the market, but I wonder if anyone will develop a credible competitor.
To compete in the space as Apple has redefined it, you need hardware mastery (hardware design, custom silicon and huge sway over supply chain), an OS and wholly new interface conventions, very sophisticated developer tools, developers! developers! developers!, an app store, a customer base, content (music, film, sports) and content partners, and you need retail stores.
Maybe Microsoft could do it eventually? (If they partnered with Sony or Samsung.) Otherwise, I don’t see anyone who could do this.