Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares have been suffering since the company released its latest member of the iPhone family, the iPhone 5c earlier this week. Shares are down by more than 7% since the market opened on Tuesday, the day of the big presentation. Analysts are turning around on the company a little now, and looking at the actual merits of the iPhone 5c.
A report from Hilliard Lyons Research analyst Steven Turner takes a fresh look at the product launch. and the report keeps its price and earnings targets stable, but it’s more optimistic about the short and medium term future of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Apple iPhone 5c prospects
The argument for the drop in the value of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) concentrates on the decline in the company’s emerging market prospects. That’s not what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) wanted to do with the iPhone 5c. The company should probably be judged on its merits, rather than the fictional strategies of analysts.
The iPhone 5c is well priced for middle class Americans and the middle classes in other developed countries. The Hilliard Lyons report supports this conclusion, and recognizes that the model is likely to boost margins. The iPhone 5c will probably see a follow on drop in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) share of emerging markets, but that doesn’t really matter for the company.
Apple in 2014
The report from Hilliard Lyons puts a price target of $545 on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares and projects that the company will earn $7.89 in the current quarter. The consensus estimate for the current quarter comes in a good deal below that at $7.65, according to Bloomberg.
The real figure that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) investors are looking forward to is the first quarter of 2014, however. Hilliard Lyons is expecting the company to earn $14.76 per share over Christmas, much higher than the $13.58 consensus estimates are pointing to.
Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are down again today as the market continues to erase the gains it made in the weeks leading up to the release of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. The market isn’t looking too hard at the company’s future, and is instead concentrating on the future it gave up by pricing the iPhone 5c the way it did.
