“Nothing Revolutionary”: Wall Street Responds To Apple’s Product Launch

Yesterday, amid all the hyped-up, artificial excitement over the “California Streaming” Apple unveil of its latest set of products, we joked that the best thing Apple could “surprise” the market with was a $100 billion buyback.

$100BN in buybacks? https://t.co/0w3LP9O7pl

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 14, 2021

In retrospect, and following the miserable reception of the boring iPhone 13, which sent Apple stock sliding, Wall Street seems to agree with us and as the following summary of comments from sellside analysts reveals, Apple should have avoided this year’s upgrade cycle entirely and just focused on doing what it does best – repurchasing its stock.

As Bloomberg writes, in a summary of Wall Street responses to the Apple event, the iPhone 13 launch was mostly as expected and lacked anything revolutionary, though the new range should underpin the upgrade cycle for its products, analysts say. Here’s what analysts are saying:

Barclays (equalweight, PT $142)

• Overall the event was as expected, with the key features of the new phones having been well-documented in the media ahead of the launch, analyst Tim Long says
• Believes next two iPhone cycles may prove challenging

Piper Sandler (overweight, PT $175)

• “No revolutionary announcements” in the launch with the majority of new hardware focused on redesigns and product improvements, analyst Harsh V. Kumar says
• However, the trade-in programs will help the 5G upgrade momentum, with these programs having helped boost demand for the iPhone 12
• Still impressed by increased usability and performance for each new generation of products

Jefferies (buy, PT $175)  

• The most significant positive is the iPhone 13 device promotions from the three major U.S. carriers, analyst Kyle McNealy says
• “We see the promotions as more aggressive than last year – they’re either a higher dollar value or don’t require a net-new line”

Cowen (outperform, PT $180)

• New features broadly in line with expectations and should underpin strength in the current 5G upgrade cycle, analyst Krish Sankar says
• Doubling of 5G carrier support by year-end also positive

Evercore ISI (outperform, PT $180)

• The iPhone upgrades largely as expected and incremental improvements should make the iPhone 13 a compelling product for the customers that didn’t buy the iPhone 12, analyst Amit Daryanani says
• Watch upgrades steal the show, albeit there was no specific timing on when this will be available

Source: Bloomberg