Gene Munster Weighs In On Apple's Spring Event: 'iPhone SE Pricing Event's Only Surprise'

On Monday, Apple Inc. AAPL hosted its yearly Spring event, where it presented the new iPhone SE and a 9.7" iPad Pro, and announced that it would be cutting the price of the Apple Watch to start from $299 – down from $349. Following the event, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster reiterated an Overweight rating and $172.00 price target on the stock.

Related Link: Apple Going To $170, Greg Harmon Says

Despite the bullishness, Munsted noted that the only surprise at the event was the iPhone SE pricing, which will start at $399 – below the firm’s projection of $450. “We expect the iPhone SE to be largely neutral to the model with the expectation that it could improve unit numbers at the low-tier ASP level, but a portion of those sales may come from the mid-tier (and 1.5 year old) iPhone 6 and 6+,” the report pointed out.

Overall, analysts at Piper Jaffray view Monday’s announcements as “incremental and anticipate that the most relevant news, particularly the launch of the iPhone 7, will come from the September event.

Having said this, Apple remains the firm’s top pick for 2016.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.