Apple
just snagged two stock price target increases—and both analysts explained that the tech titan’s personal computer business was a reason for their new projections.
Over the weekend,
Wells Fargo
‘s Aaron Rakers and
Deutsche Bank
‘s Sidney Ho raised their price targets on shares of Apple (ticker: AAPL), but maintained their ratings. The higher price targets come ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings on Aug. 3.
Rakers raised his price target to $225 from $210 and maintained his Overweight rating. Ho increased his price target to $210 from $180 and maintained his Buy rating.
Both cited personal computers in their notes—Rakers writing about the broader industry, Ho specifically about
Apple
‘s Mac.
“We continue to believe that the PC industry has completed its inventory correction—leaving us to focus on a stabilizing demand environment,” heading into the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, Rakers said. “We expect Apple to continue to gain share as the PC market recovers.”
Earlier this month, market researcher International Data Corp reported a second-quarter decline in global PC shipments, although sales were better than expected.
Ho wrote that he expects Apple’s third-quarter results and fourth-quarter guidance to match or beat Wall Street’s expectations.
“…our recent checks and third-party data suggest upside to iPhone, Mac and Services,” he said.
The analyst also said third-party shipment data suggests revenue for iPhones and Macs are above Deutsche’s initial estimates of 11% and 8% decreases, respectively, from the prior year.
In midday trading Monday, the stock was up 0.7% to $193.26. It has gained 49% this year.
Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
Read the full article here
