Strong MacBook and iPhone sales to propel Apple stock - Report
One week before Apple is set to report its third-quarter earnings, Minneapolis-based market analysis firm Piper Jaffray released a report suggesting the computer and portable device maker could beat street estimates on strong Mac and iPhone sales.
Given the recent successful launch of the iPhone 3GS and demand for the new unibody 13-inch MacBook Pro, the report, by senior research analyst Gene Munster, predicts that shares of AAPL stock will rise over the next three months.
Since Apple dropped the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro to $1,199, demand has outpaced supply ? so much so that the purchase lead-time is at levels not before seen by Piper Jaffray, which tracks turnaround for hardware orders.
?Our records show that Apple has never had a 7-10 day delay on its most popular 13" model, with the most recent significant delay being 5-7 days over 2 years,? the report states. ?We see this as a sign that demand is outpacing the company's build expectations, and it may take several weeks to reach a supply demand equilibrium.?
While the lower price has been a boon for sales, it could also hurt Apple?s bottom line. For the upcoming September quarter, Munster predicts that Apple?s fiscal year-ending guidance will come in below the consensus earnings per share of $1.29, with the company?s margins reduced by new pricing schemes. Such numbers are expected because of Apple?s traditionally conservative guidance to investors.
Shortages of Apple's mainstream notebook offerings come just weeks after the company kicked off its back-to-school promotion offering students a free iPod touch with each Mac purchase. Apple also rebranded its 13-inch unibody MacBooks as more premium offerings under the MacBook Pro moniker.
And the launch of the iPhone 3GS in June led cell phone carrier AT&T to its single-best sales day of all time. However, Munster noted, there is a caveat in the success of the iPhone 3GS: The analyst predicts Apple sold 5 million iPhones in the third quarter, which is a reduction from the 6.9 million units sold during the launch quarter of the iPhone 3G.
?The 3GS was launched in just 8 countries this year (vs. the 3G in 21 countries last year),? the Piper Jaffrays report states, ?so the international units will likely be weaker.?
Still, sales of the iPhone 3GS are beyond internal expectations from both AT&T and Apple.
The picture isn?t as rosy for iPod sales. Munster predicts a 7 percent year-to-year decrease in sales, though that total would be better than the street-expected 14 percent drop.
Looking ahead, Munster predicts Apple to offer guidance for the September quarter in-line with the market consensus of $9 billion in revenue. As of Tuesday morning, Apple?s stock was selling for around $142 per share. Maintaining an ?overweight? classification for the stock (meaning that it carries more value than other companies in the same sector), Piper Jaffray has a price target of $180 for AAPL over the next 12 months. Apple will report its third-quarter earnings on July 21.
Given the recent successful launch of the iPhone 3GS and demand for the new unibody 13-inch MacBook Pro, the report, by senior research analyst Gene Munster, predicts that shares of AAPL stock will rise over the next three months.
Since Apple dropped the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro to $1,199, demand has outpaced supply ? so much so that the purchase lead-time is at levels not before seen by Piper Jaffray, which tracks turnaround for hardware orders.
?Our records show that Apple has never had a 7-10 day delay on its most popular 13" model, with the most recent significant delay being 5-7 days over 2 years,? the report states. ?We see this as a sign that demand is outpacing the company's build expectations, and it may take several weeks to reach a supply demand equilibrium.?
While the lower price has been a boon for sales, it could also hurt Apple?s bottom line. For the upcoming September quarter, Munster predicts that Apple?s fiscal year-ending guidance will come in below the consensus earnings per share of $1.29, with the company?s margins reduced by new pricing schemes. Such numbers are expected because of Apple?s traditionally conservative guidance to investors.
Shortages of Apple's mainstream notebook offerings come just weeks after the company kicked off its back-to-school promotion offering students a free iPod touch with each Mac purchase. Apple also rebranded its 13-inch unibody MacBooks as more premium offerings under the MacBook Pro moniker.
And the launch of the iPhone 3GS in June led cell phone carrier AT&T to its single-best sales day of all time. However, Munster noted, there is a caveat in the success of the iPhone 3GS: The analyst predicts Apple sold 5 million iPhones in the third quarter, which is a reduction from the 6.9 million units sold during the launch quarter of the iPhone 3G.
?The 3GS was launched in just 8 countries this year (vs. the 3G in 21 countries last year),? the Piper Jaffrays report states, ?so the international units will likely be weaker.?
Still, sales of the iPhone 3GS are beyond internal expectations from both AT&T and Apple.
The picture isn?t as rosy for iPod sales. Munster predicts a 7 percent year-to-year decrease in sales, though that total would be better than the street-expected 14 percent drop.
Looking ahead, Munster predicts Apple to offer guidance for the September quarter in-line with the market consensus of $9 billion in revenue. As of Tuesday morning, Apple?s stock was selling for around $142 per share. Maintaining an ?overweight? classification for the stock (meaning that it carries more value than other companies in the same sector), Piper Jaffray has a price target of $180 for AAPL over the next 12 months. Apple will report its third-quarter earnings on July 21.
Comments
The solid feel of the unibody construction is one of those things you can't put a price tag on, but it contributes to making the product feel better. I wish there were a way to test the backlit keyboard at the store, because my daughter is especially excited about that!
Noise-trading time......
?Our records show that Apple has never had a 7-10 day delay on its most popular 13" model, with the most recent significant delay being 5-7 days over 2 years,? the report states. ?We see this as a sign that demand is outpacing the company's build expectations, and it may take several weeks to reach a supply demand equilibrium.?
While I am sure that MBP sales skyrocket, the above has been debunked several times. Apple has a shortage of 250 GB drives. Upgrade the 13" or 15" model showing 7-10 days lead time (both have the 250 GB HD standard) and configure them with a different HD and the lead time is gone. Also, looking at the "Top Sellers" box in the Apple store, it reads "1. MacBook, 2. iMac, 3. MacBook Pro" since almost two weeks. So, at least in Apple's own online store, the one white model is still outselling all 13, 15 and 17" MBPs combined?! Of course, the picture might be different with physical stores and resellers.
Apple has amazing command of the Premium end of the market, and even those that purchase below that level are buying in.
The current line up is just browser based and that has to be changed. Don't want to be tied to a phone carrier.
Just like Apple redefined the smart phone market with the iPhone, it will have to redefine the laptop/touch tablet market.
The rumour of a tablet/netbook for $800 coming in September are feeling more and more true.
Any guesses on when the next mac mini upgrade is coming? I might jump to the dark side since you can also run windows on it and I don't want to spend more than $600 for a computer
Probably 2013 given past upgrade performance.
Nah, it might be next February or something. I know your pain though as I would buy one if the spec was better.
I originally was going for the mini after making the choice of switching from pc to mac. But with the clear benefits of the MBP and at the new great price I decided the MBP was the one to choose. Well done Mac!
nice price on the mbp, but still too much for me. Quality and support is better than Dell but is it worth the extra $1000 over the price of a cheapo Dell laptop? At $600 for a Dell laptop I can buy a new one every year and not care if it dies on me.
nice price on the mbp, but still too much for me. Quality and support is better than Dell but is it worth the extra $1000 over the price of a cheapo Dell laptop? At $600 for a Dell laptop I can buy a new one every year and not care if it dies on me.
You wouldn't care if you had to buy, configure and migrate to a new laptop every year? What's your hourly rate? I'd like to hire you to work for my company, if you're so willing to do all that work for nothing
Any guesses on when the next mac mini upgrade is coming? I might jump to the dark side since you can also run windows on it and I don't want to spend more than $600 for a computer
goodbye
enjoy your fantastic dell
I get my copies of winders from Msdn and avoid all the problems with the crapware HP and Dell load on their machines. My vista and windows 7 computers run for a month or 2 without reboots.
Got a free G4 last week but seems I can't run anything on it. Home pc is getting old and I thought about a mini instead of building another pc again.
That 13" MacBook Pro at $1199 ($1099 for the edu. discount) is and exceptional breakthrough for Apple. It is a giant leap in value. My daughter and I tried one out this weekend at an Apple Store and it really exceeds my expectations having read the specs. As soon as she promises me it is not going to be just an Internet appliance, I'm getting her one.
The solid feel of the unibody construction is one of those things you can't put a price tag on, but it contributes to making the product feel better. I wish there were a way to test the backlit keyboard at the store, because my daughter is especially excited about that!
Good value as it may be, make SURE before you plunk down $1k that you will not mind the super-glossy display. It's annoying to some people, not annoying to others, but just make sure before you buy it that you don't end up regretting your decision. Apple still makes the regular MacBook with a less-gloss display and you guys may prefer that for the screen.
Unless you'll be getting a 3rd party external monitor for any use that's not on-the-go...
Good value as it may be, make SURE before you plunk down $1k that you will not mind the super-glossy display. It's annoying to some people, not annoying to others, but just make sure before you buy it that you don't end up regretting your decision. Apple still makes the regular MacBook with a less-gloss display and you guys may prefer that for the screen.
Unless you'll be getting a 3rd party external monitor for any use that's not on-the-go...
We've been "borrowing" my father-in-law's MacBook with glossy screen for a while and we are not bothered by it at all.