Barron’s Plays Apple Sentiment Ping-Pong
What’s going on with Apple shares and iPhone? Depends who you ask and when. A piece from Barron’s (via Apple News+) illustrates this well, under the headline, “Apple Stock Had an Awful September. But the Quarter Wasn’t Half-Bad.” Playing a solo game of ping pong, Barron’s points out that:
- Demand for iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max started so strong, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wonders/wondered whether Apple would be able to meet holiday demand
- Data seen by one Jefferies analyst has the analyst thinking iPhone 14 demand in China is not as strong as had been expected
- There was the dreaded Bloomberg report from last week that had Apple backing off of plans to increase iPhone 14 production
- While Apple shares got the tar beaten out of them last week (down about 7%), they actually ended the September quarter up about 3%. According to Barron’s, that put the company “on pace for its best quarterly performance since the fourth quarter of 2021.”
- Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett raised his rating on Apple shares from “Neutral” to “Buy.” He also upped his price target on the shares from $160 to $189. That got drowned out though when…
- BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan downgraded the shares from “Buy” to “Neutral,” dropping his price target on the shares from $185 to $160
- Taking an even tack was KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel. While noting near-term negativity for Apple shares spurred by the Bloomberg report, he and his think it’s “neutral to consensus expectations and […] would take advantage by buying on the pullback.” He’s got an “Overweight” rating on Apple shares and a price target of $185.
- There are still more “pro” players than “anti” where Apple shares are concerned. “Of the 41 analysts tracked by FactSet,” says Barron’s, “78% rate the stock as a Buy, 15% say it is a Hold and 7% rate it as a Sell.
