Possibly powered by demand data, the shares of Apple rose to an all-time high of $237.49 on October 15 before closing the day at $233.85. The jump in the price of shares made 47-year-old California-based Apple the most valuable firm in the world. Forecasts by analysts compiled by Bloomberg indicate that the stock could rise to $245.40 in the coming 12 months.
Data from International Data Corporation published on October 14 said global iPhone shipments jumped 3.5% in the third quarter compared to data in 2023.
Apple Intelligence roll out this month
Apple is scheduled to start rolling out Apple Intelligence on October 28. It has recently introduced iPad mini that runs AI features.
Trading during the day was marked by Nvidia shares falling around 4.5% in a climate ridden by trade tensions in the semiconductor industry. The price of Apple shares dwarfed its earlier record of $237.23 achieved on July 15 this year.
“Buy” from broking majors
Major brokerages such as Bernstein, Morgan Stanley Evercore ISI have signalled “Buy” for the stock this week. Reports indicated that data from International Data Corporation pertaining to iPhone shipment indicated robust demand for Apple’s earlier phones.
“Despite the staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence in markets outside the U.S., Apple will continue to grow in the upcoming holiday season,” Nabila Popal, IDC data & analytics senior director, told the media in a statement on the first day of the week.
Sharp contrast to last week
The development – both the demand indicators and the investor reaction – came in sharp contrast to what happened last week when broking major Jefferies put Apple to “hold” from “buy”. It was reacting to lingering doubts whether the latest AI-powered smartphones from the company to be welcomed by the market. On October 14, Morgan Stanley mentioned in a statement that Apple seemed to be well prepared for the launch of iPhone 16 compared to its releases in the past.
Optimism from Morgan Stanley
“Our supply-chain checks suggest that this cycle, Apple has asked its suppliers to prepare component inventories earlier than typical patterns to avoid supply constraints, in contrast to past cycles where supply shortages kept new model iPhone Pro/Pro Max supply/demand imbalanced for months… We believe that better supply conditions are one of the contributing factors to why iPhone lead times are shorter this cycle than in recent cycles,” wrote an analyst of Morgan Stanley.
The rise in shares of Apple put the market cap of the company at $3.6 trillion which is slightly lower than the GDP of India in FY24. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
