June Apple earnings approach is not being greeted with the excitement that the company’s announcements usually foment. The majority of analyst reports on the company’s coming financial have shoved its likely showing to the side in favor of concentration on its coming iPhone 6 release, and the meaning of its entry into the enterprise market.
Stifel analysts, led by Aaron C. Rakers, have followed this pattern impeccably in their preview of the company’s third quarter earnings report. According to new research from the Stifel equities desk, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) numbers are likely to be positive in the coming report, but the real story lies ahead, in the release of larger iPhones later on in 2014.
Apple iPhone release drives stock
The iPhone 6 release, much like the China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:CHL) (HKG:0941) deal last year, is the movement that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shareholders are focused on. Hopes rest on the effect of the larger screen and pent up demand for new, different kinds of devices from the company. The Apple iWatch is more of a niche following and Stifel doesn’t mention it in its report on the company’s coming earnings.
The analysts do not, however, stray from concentrating on the release of the iPhone 6. While increasing their estimates slightly for the coming quarterly report, the analysts took the opportunity to increase their estimates for the full year 2014, as well as the full year 2015.
Stifel puts a price target of $110 on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares, commenting that “a stronger upgrade cycle and demand for larger display phones in China and emerging markets” will drive sales of the iPhone in the next twelve to twenty-four months. The analysts are looking for iPhone shipments of 35 million units in the report. that should lead to earnings of $1.20 per share as revenue hits $37.6 billion.
Apple analysts take the long view
Despite the coming earnings report, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) analysts are taking a longer view on the company. Depending on the analysts tastes, recent reports have concentrated on the speculative iWatch, the IBM-Apple enterprise offering, the specifics of the company’s iPhone 6 and iPhone phablet and other aspects of the company which will have no bearing on its coming earnings report.
The third quarter of 2014 has been a quiet one for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), but that doesn’t mean the company is failing in any way. A number of the initiatives that the company announced at its WWDC in early June will form the base of its offerings for the next year or two, and iPhone sales are expected to come in above street expectations, at least according to the Stifel analysts.
The lack of substantial interest in the actual numbers Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will report on the afternoon of July 22 may be an opportunity for some traders, but it seems clear that the company’s stock will not be moved by the release unless something dramatic happened that no analyst has managed to notice. Once the Q3 numbers arrive analysts can settle back into predicting what the next iPhone will look like, and who’s going to go out and buy it.
