Apple gets a price target hike from UBS ahead of earnings
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Apple earnings should be strong as the company continues to roll out personal devices that are popular among consumers despite an ongoing memory supply crunch, according to UBS. The investment bank raised its price target on shares to $287 from $280, implying 7.2% from Monday's close. The move comes just two days before Apple reports fiscal second-quarter earnings. "Supply chain strength and sustained demand/share gains for the iPhone 17 series should lift iPhone rev up ~20% YoY," analyst David Vogt said Monday in a note to clients. AAPL 1M mountain AAPL 1-mo Vogt also raised its fiscal third-quarter revenue forecast for Apple by roughly 4% to $102 billion, suggesting 8.5% year-over-year growth. The analyst also expects "solid demand in the US and China leading to ~6% revenue growth or $47.4B vs our prior $43.5B [estimate]" for the June quarter. He added that the bank has also increased its forecast for iPhone units to 50.3 million from 46.5 million due to the smartphone manufacturer's memory driven share gains. Apple uses a type of electrical component for storage called random-access memory (RAM) to power its devices, including its recently launched iPhone 17 and MacBook Neo. Those high-power memory components have become harder to obtain as the proliferation of artificial intelligence drives up demand for the hardware. But, Apple is showing signs of working through the ongoing supply chain crunch, according to UBS. "Apple's ability to secure silicon and memory to meet iPhone demand has resulted in share gains," Vogt wrote. To be sure, Vogt kept his neutral rating on shares, suggesting he doesn't see much upside long term. "Risks to our Apple thesis include (1) product delays or less innovative offerings, particularly a decline in iPhone unit shipments; (2) macro weakness dampening product demand, especially in China," he wrote. Shares have risen nearly 8% over the past month.