Gene Munster, a bullish analyst on Apple from Piper Jaffray, lowered his 2010 EPS estimate for Apple down to $5.46, from a previous estimate of $7.73. He also lowered his admittedly astronomically high price target of $235 down to $180. While that’s a significant drop, keep in mind that $180 is still more than twice as much as Apple’s current trading price.
So what was behind Munster tempering his outlook on Apple? For starters, he wasn’t impressed with Apple’s 4.4 million iPhone sales last quarter. And second, he was expecting a new phone from Apple in March, but his checks with manufacturers in Asia suggested that a new phone wouldn’t be released until June. Munster, who had previously predicted 45 million in iPhone sales in 2009, noted that Apple wouldn’t be able to sell that many iPhones without a March release to drive growth. Unless I’m missing something here, did Munster believe that Apple would release a phone in March only because it made his own prediction of 45 million iPhones sold plausible?
In any event, Munster subsequently lowered his 2009 iPhone sales estimate to a more attainable 28 million units.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
And it’s about time he lowered the TP. Apple was never going to reach that price he had set and it probably won’t reach the price he has now. It might not even reach the lowest TP any analyst has set. Investors are avoiding this stock like the plague no matter how much money they have in cash reserve. It’s far more fun betting shares on how soon the CEO is going to admit he’s not coming back to Apple. If they could just take Steve Jobs head and fasten it to Jon Ive’s body, Apple stock would rise to the ceiling. Ive looks like a slightly less beefier version of Jason Statham. Nobody would question him living another 30 years or so.
Munster lowered his iPhone estimates from 45 to 28 million. Now that’s a shocker. Like in anybody’s wildest dream, Apple could move 45 million iPhones. This year, they’ll be lucky to sell 15 million iPhones especially if there is no lower priced versions. Get real. This isn’t some fantasy world where everyone is going to buy iPhones.