Apple Price Target Upped On iPhone 6 Estimates

Updated on

Apple is scheduled to release its December quarter earnings results toward the end of this month, and analysts are busily updating their models ahead of the report. Most firms seem to agree that demand for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus seemed to be strong during the quarter, and several have increased their iPhone sales estimates as a result.

RBC Capital Markets is one of the latest to increase its estimates, and the firm’s analysts also bumped up their price target for Apple as well.

Apple iPhone estimates raised

According to AppleInsider, analyst Amit Daryanani sent a research note to investors today informing them of his increased estimates. He raised his price target for Apple from $120 to $123 per share because—surprise, surprise—he thinks sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 were better than he previously expected. This is basically the same story as in the reports numerous other firms have put out on Apple recently.

The RBC analyst’s estimate for iPhone units is between 67 million and 68 million, which is on the high side compared to other analysts’ iPhone unit estimates. His previous estimate was 64 million units, and the consensus estimate is about 66 million units.

Same Apple story as others

Daryanani thinks over 80% of the iPhones Apple sold during the December quarter were one of the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus models, which puts him about in line with other firms, although a bit short after this week’s updates. In a report earlier this week, Susquehanna analysts bumped up their estimate for the share of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Apple’s overall iPhone shipments from 80% to 88%.

The RBC analyst expects to see an average selling price of about $700, again citing the same points as the Susquehanna team for the high expected selling price. He believes the mix of higher priced iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 handsets with larger storage options is favorable and will boost the average selling price.

In terms of the current quarter, he’s expecting Apple to ship about 50 million iPhones, which is at the top of the range of the estimated 47 million to 50 million units being projected across Wall Street.

Leave a Comment