apple pickle wsj analysts
2 years ago
Published July 9, 2020 by

WSJ: Apple in a pickle

“Wall Street isn’t yet factoring in an iPhone launch delay” according to the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Gallagher.

From Thursday’s Journal ($):

Wall Street is so over the moon about Apple Inc.’s next iPhone that few seem to care when it will actually arrive.

Up 12% over the past month, Apple is one of only four Dow components positive for that period. The company is also now valued at more than $1.6 trillion—second only to Saudi Aramco globally. That is quite a run for a company that still makes the bulk of its money selling gadgets produced in the global pandemic’s ground zero. What is more, the current hype is mostly over one gadget in particular; analysts widely expect Apple to launch its first 5G iPhone this fall.

Apple has put new iPhones on the market in the last half of September every year since 2012. The pandemic has understandably thrown a wrench into the company’s production machine, though, given its impact on Chinese factories and travel to and from the mainland. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that production of this year’s flagship iPhones was pushed back by about a month…

That means the new iPhones are unlikely to contribute to Apple’s own fiscal fourth quarter that ends in September. But most analysts so far don’t seem to be factoring in a delay.

My take: That’s not what I’m seeing. In the note posted this morning, for example, Evercore’s Amit Daryanani factored in an iPhone launch delay until November and still raised his price target.

See also: Evercore raises Apple price target $20 to $400

9 Comments

  1. Adam Foster said:
    I don’t care whether or not the 5G iPhone comes this year – in the US there is no 5G infrastructure anywhere near me nor do I believe it will be rolled out in a meaningful way next year… beside LTE is still robust in most of the USA. Apple usually takes its time to make the sausage right rather than rush a product very few folks can take advantage of anytime soon.

    7
    July 9, 2020
  2. David Emery said:
    The ONLY thing a delay would impact is which quarter Apple books the profits that will roll in. (I’m due for a new phone this fall.) As long as it’s announced before Christmas, that’s OK. (Most people would accept a wrapped IOU for a new latest model iPhone if the product wasn’t available by Dec 25….)

    5
    July 9, 2020
  3. Alan Birnbaum said:
    …rhymes with Tripp Mickle, another star WSJ reporter that reports DOOM for Appl.

    /S

    2
    July 9, 2020
  4. Fred Stein said:
    Still counting iPhones. Does he believe in the Easter Bunny?

    Every analyst has noted the iPhone 12 delay.

    1
    July 9, 2020
  5. Miguel Ancira said:
    They have not learned yet. It is not about the iphone units anymore. WSJ went the way of Bernstein a long time ago. But, if they want to keep talking it up, that is fine with me. I am waiting for a pullback to add more shares.

    2
    July 9, 2020
  6. Jerry Doyle said:
    This WSJ article borders on stupidity. It is as if Dan Gallagher is an Apple media bear who has been hibernating for the past six months and just crawled out from his burrowed lair still in a torpid state of mind and has not yet interacted with his WS media tech peers who all are cognizant fully of the iPhone 12 being pushed back to a later appearance. It speaks volumes of the ineptness of this journalist reporting this long spoken of fact, even understood among Apple consumers, waiting to get their hands on the next all new generation iPhone. Unbelievable!

    4
    July 9, 2020
  7. Dan Scropos said:
    I still maintain we will see over the ear headphones and a new HomePod Mini before the holiday quarter. That will more than fill the void of an *expected* delay.

    1
    July 9, 2020
  8. Frank Pedron said:
    [rant]… “gadgets” … really? That’s where you lost me, Gallagher. Reminds me of keyboard bangers of days gone by who were convinced computers would amount to nothing more than being toys for techies.

    If you think Apple makes “gadgets”, you just don’t get it and IMO that taints anything you have to say. [/rant]

    5
    July 9, 2020
  9. Steven Philips said:
    It’s always confused me how the two or three publications that SHOULD reflect financial awareness and understanding of capitalism ( WSJ, Forbes and – maybe – Barrons, can so frequently seem so oblivious – or just willfully ignorant or antagonistic.
    About the only positive thing I can say about WSJ is that it’s better than Forbes. Almost anything is!

    2
    July 9, 2020

Leave a Reply