Oppenheimer: Apple Remains 'Underwhelmingly Brilliant'

In a new report, Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz discusses Apple Inc AAPL’s upcoming press event on September 9. Uerkwitz makes his predictions about what products Apple will launch at the event, what type of reception the launches will get from investors and what the fallout from the event will mean for Apple’s share price.

Product launches
Uerkwitz expects that the widely-anticipated launch of the iPhone 6s will be the major headline from the upcoming Apple event. “We expect image sensors to be the brightest spot among all upcoming improvements,” he adds.

In addition to the iPhone launch, Uerkwitz is also calling for an Apple TV upgrade. He believes that Apple will open up the device’s OS to allow for installation of more third-party apps.

Finally, Uerkwitz forecasts that Apple will launch iOS 9 sometime in September as well, which Oppenheimer believes will include further integration of Force Touch.

Launch events losing their “sizzle”
According to Uerkwitz, the Apple launch events will likely continue to disappoint investors until the company unveils its next new product line. Until then, he says that the WWDC developer conference will play a much more important role in Apple’s future.

Outlook
Although Uerkwitz predicts that Apple’s launch event will be “underwhelming,” he remains bullish on the stock. “Our low expectation is hardly indicative of less confidence in Apple’s ecosystem,” he explains.

Despite Apple likely failing to live up to investors’ high expectations, the launches at the event will continue to get the job done in terms of customer reception and market dominance.

Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating on Apple and a $155 target for the stock.