Apple
stock is nearing record highs again having risen steadily through November. The latest data on iPhone demand in China should reassure bulls it can keep climbing, according to Wedbush’s Dan Ives.
Apple
(ticker: AAPL) caused some concern in its latest earnings report when it said its September-quarter revenue in China dropped.
The company said at the time that the Chinese headwind was more due to personal computer and tablet demand than its iPhone profit engine. However, the market has been waiting to see how the holiday season turns out with competition from Huawei’s latest smartphone models.
The signs are encouraging according to Wedbush’s Ives.
“While Huawei has seen success with its latest smartphone, we still believe Apple is seeing modest growth for iPhones in the December quarter with ASPs [average selling prices] that are rising with the heavier mix of iPhone Pros this time around,” Ives wrote in a research note.
That confidence seems to be reflected in Apple stock, which has climbed from around $170 at the start of November to around $191 as of early Friday, hovering just below record highs of more than $196 reached at the end of July.
It still has some way to go to reach the $240 target price set by Ives, but he’s confident.
“We believe the “growth demise story” of Apple being spun by bears is a dynamic we have seen constantly over the past decade and this is just another chapter in that book,” Ives wrote.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
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