Apple Scores Oscars Win With 'CODA': Analyst Sees Big Subscriber And Content Boost For Tech Giant From 'Monumental Moment'

Apple Inc AAPL shined at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday night after "CODA" won the Best Picture honor. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives had said in a recent note the tech giant could benefit if such an eventuality came to pass.

The Apple Analyst: Ives maintained his “outperform” rating on the iPhone maker and has a 12-month price target of $200.

The Apple Thesis: The Academy Awards turned out to be a “monumental event” for the Tim Cook-led technology giant, just as predicted by Ives.

CODA, a remake of the 2014 French film “La Famille Bélier,” tracks the story of Ruby Rossi — a child of deaf parents who attempts to pursue her singing passion while supporting her family.

“If Apple was to win the coveted Best Picture award with CODA it would catalyze more A+ talent coming to Apple first (or in the top bracket) and could propel Cupertino's content efforts by multiples over the coming years with a major paid subscriber boost,” Ives had said in a recent note.

Ives said Apple through the awards season has already established itself as a “premium content contender” with respect to both traditional Hollywood stalwarts and other streaming rivals such as Netflix Inc NFLX.

Ives noted that Apple TV+’s 25 million domestic subscribers and 50 million globally is a fraction compared with rivals but the Oscar nominations should “accelerate” the number and give the company more confidence on doubling down on content efforts over the next year.

The Wedbush analyst said Apple spends nearly $7 billion each year on original content and it has almost $200 billion on its balance sheet. Ives said that Wedbush believes the iPhone maker is pushing the pedals on original content and also bidding on upcoming sports packages such as NFL Sunday Night Ticket. 

“Apple TV+ is a small, but highly strategic component of the overall services ecosystem ($80 billion annual revenue in FY22) that is becoming a key monetization engine for the company over the coming years to tap its golden and unmatched installed base,” the analyst had said.

Apple Price Action: Apple shares closed 0.4% higher at $174.42 in the regular session on Friday and gained 0.2% in the after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

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Photo courtesy: Apple TV+