Apple (AAPL) – Get Report is expected to handily beat Wall Street’s first-quarter expectations this week, according to a Wedbush analyst who on Monday raised his share price target on the tech giant to $175 from $160.
Shares of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company were climbing 2.75% to $142.90 in premarket trading.
Analyst Daniel Ives, who keeps an outperform rating on the stock, said in a note to investors that Wall Street “is anticipating robust results from Apple on Wednesday after the bell with Cupertino expected to handily beat Street estimates across the board.”
The analyst also raised his bull case price target to $225 from $200.
“Based on our Asia supply chain checks,” Ives said, “we strongly believe the iPhone 12 supercycle hype has become a reality with this week giving the Street its first glimpse of underlying iPhone 12 demand and key commentary from CEO Tim) Cook looking ahead into the next few quarters.”
Apple is scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday. The company is expected by analysts to report adjusted net income of $24.5 billion, or $1.41 a share, on sales of $102.8 billion.
While the Street is forecasting roughly 220 million iPhone units for FY21,,” Ives said, “we believe based on the current trajectory and in a bull case Cupertino has potential to sell north of 240 million units (about 250 million could be in the cards – an eye popping figure) which would easily eclipse the previous Apple record of 231 million units sold in FY15.”
Ives said China remains a key ingredient in Apple’s recipe for success and he estimated that roughly 20% of iPhone upgrades will be coming from this region over the coming year.
“If Apple continues to execute at this pace, a $3 trillion+ market cap could be on the horizon over the 12 months,” the analyst said.
In addition, Raymond James analyst Chris Caso raised his price target on Apple to $150 from $140 while keeping an outperform rating.
J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee, who reiterated his overweight rating on Apple with a $150 price target, said he expects Apple to deliver a “large beat” this quarter.
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