Apple A 'Clear Favorite' For This Analyst Now That Fed Roadmap Is Clear: Is iPhone 13 A Major Factor?

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) remains a “clear favorite” for him as Wall Street starts to gravitate toward tech stocks again following the U.S. Federal Reserve's outlook on monetary policy.

The Apple Analyst: Ives maintained his “outperform” rating on the iPhone maker with a 12-month price target of $200.

The Apple Thesis:  “In a nutshell, we believe the tech sector is as oversold as we have seen in the last five years, and we would strongly be buying cloud, software, cyber security, chips, and stalwart tech names led by FAANG with Apple our clear favorite,” wrote Ives in a recent note, seen by Benzinga.

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Wedbush said that its recent supply chain checks in Asia have revealed that the Tim Cook-led company is seeing “stellar” demand for its flagship iPhone 13 phones.

Ives said that they noted “discernible” improvements in supply chain issues faced by the Cupertino, California-based tech giant. 

The initial expectations for the recently released iPhone SE are for nearly 30 million units out of the gates — contributing to the strongest cycle for Apple since 2015.

Ives said that Apple is gearing up for a “monster growth cycle” over the next 12 to 18 months which is not “baked into shares at current levels.”

The Wedbush analyst estimated that Apple has garnered 300 bps of the market share in China over the last 12 months — which remains the company’s growth engine. 

While the Street has focussed on chip shortage issues, the underlying iPhone 13 demand story for Apple both in the United States and China is trending ahead of the Street’s expectations in Wedbush’s opinion so far in the March quarter with momentum going forward into the June quarter.

“We believe the pent-up demand story is still being underestimated by investors,” said Ives.

Apple Price Action: On Tuesday, Apple shares closed 2.1% higher at $168.82 in the regular session.

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