Videos: Five Analysts Weigh in on Apple's Positive Quarter
As the market gets ready to open, Apple's stock AAPL is likely to open at +6.75% higher on relief that their third quarter financials weren't as bad as Wall Street had expected and the sell off prior to Apple's announcement was overkill. As some analysts have had time to digest their financials, opinions are beginning to roll in. Below are a few video interviews with some pretty interesting points and optimism along with a dash of reality about Apple going forward. One analyst told CNBC that Apple's forecast-beating earnings Tuesday left some analysts worried it's selling too many of its lower cost iPhone SE model and needs to diversify its current portfolio of smartphones.
IDC: Francisco Jeronimo
Moor Insights & Strategy: Patrick Moorehead
Drexel Hamilton: Brian White
Oppenheimer & Co: Andrew Uerkwitz
CNBC Reporter & Snippet from Apple's CEO
Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at analysis firm IDC, told CNBC Wednesday that Apple's numbers were "very good numbers. However, they show that Apple needs to do something else."
"The price point shows that they need to do something else in terms of the entire (iPhone) portfolio because the market is not growing anymore. And if it's not growing, or even if it's only growing in emerging markets where most consumers cannot afford the top of the range, they need to move towards lower price ranges and that's basically what the iPhone SE did this quarter to Apple," he added.
"They sold more iPhones SE than iPhone 6 or 6s which is a very strong indicator that they need to do something in that space."
"Margins went down, they sold a lot more iPhones SE than they had expected to, and Apple needs to be very careful of that," Moor Insights & Strategy's Patrick Moorhead told CNBC Wednesday.
Wall Street had a more optimistic take on Apple's earning Tuesday, with a slew of price upgrades overnight. JPMorgan raised its price target on Apple to $107 from $105, according to Reuters. Macquarie upped its target to $115 from $112 and Maxim Group raised its projection to $173 from $168. There was also an upgrade from BTIG.
Morgan Stanley's equity analyst Katy Huberty isn't as concerned on overall margins and believes that Apple appears to be fairly supply-constrained on the iPhone SE handset. In a new research note overnight, she said that these new results and guidance would push the "margin debate to the back burner."
"While we fully expect investors to question the impact of a higher iPhone 7 bill of materials like in past cycles, the gross margin bear case is less compelling as Apple just gave stable gross margin guidance."
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