As BMO delves closer into Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) and its iPhone installed base while Barclays sings the praises of the recent preannouncement from Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU), one thing remains clear for both companies: good things await. For Apple, with a steady iPhone installed base and a refresh cycle surrounded by a lot of buzz, one analyst predicts both near-term and long-term success. For Micron, though pricing remains a grey cloud lingering in the back half of the year, another analyst sees the pre-release as a sign to stay bullish on the chip giant. Let’s explore:
Apple’s Next Few Years to Bring Strong Growth
BMO analyst Tim Long is out with a confident forecast on Apple after diving in deeper to his iPhone installed base analysis. Anticipating a sturdy base ahead to bring in robust growth for years to come, the analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on AAPL with a price target of $160, which represents a 14% increase from where the shares last closed.
Long believes, “We estimate total iPhone installed base of over 700 million, including over 200 million second-hand phones, and project growth to remain strong over the coming years. The higher number of iPhones will continue to propel Services revenues, and we look at how Apple could reach its goal of doubling the business over the next four years.”
Seeing an “Installed base age positive into the next refresh cycle,” the analyst projects that of the new phone installed base, 31% will be two years or older by the time the iPhone X launches come September. “Although refreshment cycles are lengthening to 2.5+ years, which means not everyone will take advantage, the availability of un-upgraded phones will serve as a tailwind as Apple launches the new models,” continues Long.
Though the analyst sees the target of doubling Services revenue as “ambitious” he also deems it an “achievable” goal. Currently, Services brings in $24 billion to the tech giant, with App Store sales as the “single biggest contributor” thanks to $7 billion in revenue for fiscal 2016. Yet, the analyst anticipates “[…] other businesses like Music and iCloud are also going to be key contributors in the coming years.”
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