All of Wall Street is talking about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 6 and the rumored iWatch. However, Morgan Stanley analysts are looking a bit further ahead. They say that what they’re calling iAnywhere will be the big game changer for the company. As a result, they’ve increased their December 2015 price target from $89 to $108 per share and reiterated their Overweight rating on Apple.
Apple’s “on the cusp of multiple new product launches”
In a report dated June 24, 2014, analyst Rod Hall and the rest of the team at Morgan Stanley said they continue to believe that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is going to be launching multiple new products. They think these new products will “reinvigorate” growth in the company’s earnings compared to Wall Street’s expectations.
Like most others, they expect Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to launch the rumored iWatch this year. However, they aren’t expecting much movement in the company’s earnings from the introduction of that product. Instead, they’re looking to early 2015 and what they call the iAnywhere launch. They say it has the potential to materially impact earnings growth.
Updating Apple model
The Morgan Stanley team said they are now factoring in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s $12 billion debt offering and the seven for one stock split. They say those changes mainly impact their estimates for interest, income and share count. Their estimate for diluted earnings per share for the 2014 fiscal year falls 1 cent to $6.58 per share, while their 2015 estimate rises by 1% to $7.51 per share.
The analysts also said it looks like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s warranty cost per device is stabilizing. They estimate that it grew by just 1% year over year in the second fiscal quarter to $12.90 per device. In the 2013 fiscal year and also in the first fiscal quarter of this year, they note that it grew by more than 50% year over year. They say that was probably because of Apple’s international expansion and “other things.”
They also say Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s purchase commitments were lower but are starting to stabilize as well. The company’s off-balance sheet commitments fell by $3.5 billion sequentially and $1.2 billion year over year to $12.6 billion.
Apple to develop baseband solutions?
The analysts referenced a story from this week in which it was reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be in talks with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) regarding production for its baseband chips. The reports were for next year’s iPhone and not the iPhone 6 that’s expect this year. Although some think it’s unlikely Apple will switch to Intel, the Morgan Stanley team says it’s a possibility because next year there should be alternatives to QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s industry-leading LTE baseband offering.
However, they think in the long term that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will look toward designing its own baseband solution, thus echoing past reports that the company might do so.
