Stifel Boosts Apple Inc. Q4 iPhone Sales Forecast 5%

shipment of 10 million iPhone 6 units last weekend coupled with an expected China launch later this year spurred an analyst to boost his sales forecast Friday. Stifel's Aaron Rakers now thinks the Cupertino, California-based company will sell 39.6 million of the phones in the current quarter, up nearly 5 percent from his earlier estimate of 37.8 million. Rakers, who rates Apple at Buy with a $110 target, also boosted his fiscal 2014 earnings estimate to $6.35 per share, from $6.29. Wall Street on average expects 2014 earnings of $6.33. Raker's forecast comes despite reports this week that the the iPhone 6 Plus, is susceptible to bending when stored in pants' pockets. Apple also withdrew a software update for the new phones Wednesday after it discovered that its installation disabled cellular service and the product's fingerprint reader used to unlock the units. Apple apologized for the botched update, but said it had received only nine complaints about bent phones. NBC News reported Friday on the entrepreneurial firm iCracked, in Redwood, City, California, which makes house calls to repair iPhones for $80 to $100. Apple offers a a one-year warranty that includes 90 days of customer support and limited damage coverage for a year.