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Shares of Apple continued to rise on Friday.
Sascha Steinbach / Getty Images for Apple
Apple
the stock rose for the fourth straight session on friday, putting it on pace for a record close and within reach of an intraday record. Wall Street analysts continue to wait for expectations ahead of the company’s earnings report in December, which will close after trading closes next Wednesday.
The consensus forecast predicts revenue and earnings of $ 102.8 billion on $ 1.40 per share. The Street is looking for huge iPhone sales after the launch of the iPhone 12 line late last year, with a continuing force also on Macs, iPads, portable items and services.
On Friday, analyst Cowen Krish Sankar repeated his Outperform rating on Apple shares (ticker: AAPL), increasing its target price to $ 153, from $ 133.
Sankar expects the company to exceed expectations for the quarter, both on the top and bottom line, driven mainly by strong demand for the iPhone. It projects revenues of $ 104.5 billion and profits of $ 1.46 per share. The analyst estimates that Apple sold 77 million iPhones in that quarter, up 97% sequentially and 7% year-over-year. He sees iPhone revenue of $ 60.1 billion, up 7% from a year ago, with service revenue up 26% to $ 16 billion.
Apple remains Sankar’s best choice in the IT hardware industry for several reasons.
First, he believes the iPhone 12 upgrade cycle should continue to grow with revenue from the 2021 calendar year. likely to stay on track – given new offerings like Fitness +. And finally, contributions from the Mac, iPad and portable devices will “remain strong,” with long-term potential in new areas such as electric vehicles and augmented and virtual reality, he writes.
Apple rose 0.9% to $ 138.12 in recent trading. The closing of the previous record of the action – arrived on Thursday – was $ 136.87. The intraday peak of the action was 139.67, also recorded on Thursday. For the week, the stock increased by about 8.7%.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]