Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s price target has been adjusted by analysts at RBC Capital Markets to reflect seasonal patterns. In a report issues to investors today, the firm cut its target from $750 to $725 but maintained its Outperform rating.
RBC Capital said they’ve examined recent data points from the company’s supply chain and are modestly lowering their estimates for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s March quarter and beyond. They said adjustments were made to reflect the seasonal decline in demand for the iPhone and increased demand for the iPad Mini, which they expect is cannibalizing the iPad 4s.
Analysts said the driver for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s seasonal adjustments in its supply chain is not clear, but they believe part of the answer is “faster than expected resolution of the yield issues.” Thus they expect that the company and its supply chain will have greater gross margins because yield has resolved “sooner than expected.”
RBC Capital is adjusting its December quarter numbers to $55.4 billion and their March quarter numbers to $46.1 billion. They have left their iPhone estimates unchanged at around 47 million units for the December quarter but decreasing units to 42.1 million for the company’s March quarter.
Analysts are decreasing their iPad unit expectations to 24.7 million for the December quarter but increasing their expectations for the March quarter to 20.6 million units. They believe that although the iPad Mini has had a chilly reception, the market is warning up to it consistently. Analysts expect that the iPad Mini will cannibalize the 10-inch version of the device but also outpace it in gross margins because the components for the Mini are less expensive than the ones used in the 10-inch version.
