Canaccord Reviews Apple's Earnings

In a report published Tuesday, Canaccord Genuity analysts maintained a Buy rating on

, while raising the price target from $150 to $155. Apple reported robust 2Q15 results ahead of analyst expectations and expanded its capital return program to $200 billion through March 2017 from its previous $130 billion. The analysts believe that the strong results indicate "a record iPhone 6 upgrade cycle." The analysts expect an increasing number of iPhone customers to upgrade to the new iPhone 6.6 plus devices through 2015. "In fact, with only 20% of the iPhone installed base upgrading to the new iPhone 6/6 Plus devices by the end of Q2/F'15, we anticipate continued strong replacement sales through 2015," the analysts stated. The company's share of the high-end smartphone market is expected to expand significantly. "We believe these trends should grow Apple's sticky iPhone installed base to half a billion users during 2015 and this large base bodes well for future strong iPhone replacement sales, earnings, and cash generation," the analysts added. Apple has also increased the share buyback authorization to $140B up from the prior $90B limit with $80B of this completed by March 2015 and increased the quarterly dividend by 11 percent to $0.52 per share. The EPS estimate for FY15 has been reduced from $8.94 to $8.93, while that for FY16 has been raised from $9.11 to $9.19.