JPMorgan analysts have substantially raised sales and earnings estimates for Apple, the iPad and iPhone.
Mark Moskowitz, IT hardware analyst with JPMorgan, has raised his price target on Apple to US$715 from US$625 on the new estimates.
“Our research indicates that the iPhone and iPad shipment activity in the supply chain implies major upside potential to our previous estimates. We are not trying to inflate expectations.”
Mr. Moskowitz has revised his estimate on iPhone unit shipments to 31.1 million from 28.1 million previously, bumping the 2012 estimate to 138.2 million from 128.7 million.
His new forecast for iPad shipments is 13.8 million in the quarter, compared with 10.1 million, and 69.6 million on the year versus 58.6 million previously.
“These are big numbers, affirming Apple’s above-peer growth potential, and all of this potential exists despite Apple having defied the law of numbers previously.”
Looking further ahead, Mr. Moskowitz expects Apple to refresh its MacBook laptop portfolio, including the ultraslim MacBook Air, within the next three months. Apple will need to introduce incremental improvements and lower price points to stay competitive as rivals narrow the gap.
The iPhone 4S and new iPad are not as disappointing as some would have you believe.
The author of this post is Jeff Cormier
via CNET
