Cantor Fitzgerald 'Apple Barometer' Rebounded In September

The Cantor Fitzgerald “Apple Barometer” for Apple Inc. AAPL rebounded in September according to a report issued Thursday.

According to analysts Brian J. White and Isabel Zhu, the “performance of the Apple Barometer this September is less meaningful to us because we believe demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has been unprecedented but there have been severe shortages around the iPhone 6 Plus. As such, we believe this demand will show up in the company's December quarter results.”

“Final Apple Barometer sales in September rose by 12 percent MoM and were slightly below the average increase of 14 percent over the past nine years; and close to the 13 percent MoM increase in September 2013.”

White also had positive comments for prospects in China as this “Friday (October 10), the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are officially available for pre-order in China and the new devices go on sale on October 17.” White’s meetings wireless carriers provided him “with confidence in the notion that the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 will be met with an insatiable appetite in China. China remains the largest market opportunity for Apple in the world.”

In a related story, Carl Icahn sent an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook Thursday and urged more stock buy-backs as Icahn felt Apple trades at a 50 percent discount.

The Cantor Fitzgerald report included a Buy Rating and $123 price target “based on just over 14x our CY2015 pro forma EPS estimate (adjusted for interest income/expense), plus Apple’s $22.05 net cash per share.”

Apple Inc. recently traded at $101.56, up 0.75 percent.