Piper Jaffray places emphasis on Apple shares ahead of Macworld

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Investment bank Piper Jaffray on Monday added shares of Apple Inc. to its Alpha list, a short-term categorization meant to place extra emphasis on companies whose shares hold potential for significant near-term appreciation due to particular catalysts and market conditions.



"We are adding Apple to the Alpha list, expecting material upside in the next 90 days," Sr. Analyst Gene Munster informed clients in a research note. "Given their recent pull-back, shares of Apple should benefit from sales of Apple's most innovative product lineup ever during the seasonally strong December quarter as well as new product announcements at Macworld in January."



In supporting his new recommendation, the analyst noted that shares of the Cupertino-based cpmpany over the past four years have increased by an average of 42.5 percent between October 1 and December 1.



"We believe there is potential for similar gains this year for several reasons," he wrote. "In recent years Apple has announced new or updated iPods in the fall, and this year is no exception. We believe the new iPod touch, iPod classic, and iPod nanos give Apple its strongest product line-up for the holidays in company history."



Another factor likely to cause shares of Apple to rise during the December quarter, according to Munster, is the hype that builds as the annual Macworld Expo and Conference approaches.



"Each year the company announces new products in early January and throughout the month leading up to the event, speculation regarding future products has caused the stock to increase," he advised clients. "The Macworld factor has, in part, led to an increase in the share price of 37 percent on average throughout the December quarter."







The analyst, of course, did not overlook iPhone as another near term catalysts, explaining that the touch-screen handset is poised for a strong December quarter, driven by robust holiday demand from gift-givers.



Apple is presently just one of several companies with a seat on Piper Jaffray's Alpha list, a categorization which is separate from the firm's standard share rating, which for Apple remains a Buy with a 12-month price target of $250.00.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    At first I was thinking... 2007 will not be anything like 2004 for AAPL. In 2004, the analysts just didn't understand what was changing with Apple, and for those of us here it was easy to see that the stock was grossly undervalued. Black Friday came, and the stock jumped 25% looking at the crowds.



    Today, the analysts are all quite bullish on Apple; they see them "firing on all cylinders." Apple disappointing would kill the stock; the PE is approaching where it was then, without the same "game changing growth." One would think that Apple would be about on-par with the market.



    But looking at my neighborhood Apple Store this weekend, I do have solid faith that the stock will be close to $200 again soon. It's amazing how much they are selling, and what they are selling!



    (Although it is a little disappointing just how busy the Genius Bar is with warrantee replacements.)
  • Reply 2 of 3
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh View Post


    At first I was thinking... 2007 will not be anything like 2004 for AAPL. In 2004, the analysts just didn't understand what was changing with Apple, and for those of us here it was easy to see that the stock was grossly undervalued. Black Friday came, and the stock jumped 25% looking at the crowds.



    Today, the analysts are all quite bullish on Apple; they see them "firing on all cylinders." Apple disappointing would kill the stock; the PE is approaching where it was then, without the same "game changing growth." One would think that Apple would be about on-par with the market.



    But looking at my neighborhood Apple Store this weekend, I do have solid faith that the stock will be close to $200 again soon. It's amazing how much they are selling, and what they are selling!



    (Although it is a little disappointing just how busy the Genius Bar is with warrantee replacements.)



    The thing I keep thinking about, as a patient investor, is that they have a mere 8% of US computer market share now. When the "tipping point" is reached; when Luddite Enterprise IT guys raised on DOS start taking early retirement-- watch out! the sky's the limit.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TBarta View Post


    The thing I keep thinking about, as a patient investor, is that they have a mere 8% of US computer market share now. When the "tipping point" is reached; when Luddite Enterprise IT guys raised on DOS start taking early retirement-- watch out! the sky's the limit.



    If you consider all personal computers and servers, consumer and business machines, from the lowest bargain basement prices using old hardware to the high-end machines, then yes, Apple has a small market share. But if you look at consumer machines that fit into Apple's market or compare notebook sales then you see that Apple's percentage is substantially higher. In fact, its extremely high when you compare it to other OEMs--not OSes, not MS WIndows--and consider that Apple doesn't make a cheap, disposable $400 notebook like HP and Dell.
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