Apple Inc. is slowly reopening more of its stores in what one analyst calls a “sign of improving trends,” but the company appeared to be making headway into the “new normal” even before the move.
At least three analysts have given increasingly bullish opinions on Apple’s AAPL stock,
following Tuesday’s reopening announcement, encouraging advancements in online and offline retail. Apple stock closed 0.4% higher on Wednesday.
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“We see store re-openings as a directional sign of improving trends and a shift towards a more normalized demand environment for Apple,” wrote Jeriel Ong of Deutsche Bank. “While high unemployment and small consumer pockets worry us for the next-gen iPhone launch which typically takes place in September / October, we continue to tilt bullish on Apple.”
He raised his share price target to $ 320 from $ 305 while maintaining his buy rating.
While Jefferies analyst Kyle McNealy expects physical sales to be a continued source of weakness in the June quarter, he was impressed with the company’s progress in e-commerce.
“Our analysis of web traffic indicates that Apple has experienced strong growth through online channels since the onset of COVID-19,” wrote McNealy, who raised his target for Apple stock price to $ 370 from 350 $ and reiterated a purchase note.
Based on its analysis of web data, Apple saw a 123% year-over-year growth in April iPhone page traffic on its own site and 39% on third-party sites. The early interest in the iPhone SE, the lower-cost device Apple launched last month, struck McNealy as “quite remarkable” given that it has accounted for about three-quarters of the growth in iPhone page traffic since. a year.
“We see Street iPhone’s expectations as conservative for the June quarter and they don’t fully appreciate the strength of online channels and the iPhone SE launch as positive offsets to the brick-and-mortar declines,” he said. McNealy writes.
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Regardless of how customers choose to buy their iPhones, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan is excited that the company is nearing a milestone as its global base of iPhones installed. approaching a billion.
“We see the installed base as a key indicator of the potential of the Apple ecosystem,” he said in a note to customers on Wednesday. “A larger installed base can potentially lead to increased service consumption and incremental device sales (halo effect). ”
Mohan sees an opportunity for Apple to further increase its installed base in the secondary market, which he expects to be the primary driver going forward.
It raised its price target to $ 340 from $ 320 while maintaining its buy rating.
Apple shares have risen 16% in the past three months as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
fell 0.9%.
