PacCrest On Apple: Strong Pricing Suggest No Commoditization, Maintain $132 Target

On Tuesday Pacific Crest issued a company note on Apple Inc.AAPL noting that Apple’s strong pricing power suggests no evidence of commercialization with the company’s products. Currently, Pacific Crest rates Apple as Overweight with a $132 price target.

Andy Hargreaves, a research analyst at Pacific Crest, wrote, “We recommend an overweight position in AAPL. Results suggest it is not a commodity vendor. We believe sustained pricing power and renewed iPhone unit growth in F2017 can drive profit growth and multiple expansion to drive AAPL toward our $132 price target.”

Apple reported EPS of $3.28 vs expectations of $3.22 on Tuesday after the market closed. While Apple’s earnings beat estimates, the company reported a slowdown in iPhone sales growth, being flat for the year. Analysts believe that the strong US dollar and reduced demand for Apple’s products in China has contributed to the weakness in the company’s sales, with the company forecasting revenue that is below consensus estimates. However, in a statement CEO Tim Cook mentioned that many iPhone 6 users have yet to upgrade to the newest models which could mean that Apple can grow iPhone sales with its next model release.

Currently, Apple is trading at $95.68, down 4.31 percent.