Apple Gains With Bulls Touting Product Mix to Counter Virus

(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street remained bullish after Apple Inc.'s second-quarter earnings report, revealing a sliver of revenue growth even as the company refrained from giving guidance for the first time in more than a decade.

The Cupertino, California-based firm's laptop and iPad businesses are benefiting from increased home-working, while the core iPhone unit should recover once lockdowns are lifted, analysts said, with several raising price targets on the stock.

Given current headwinds, quarterly revenue growth of 1% was a win and “is representative of the strength of Apple's presence in our lives,” Loup Ventures's Gene Munster said in a note.

Morgan Stanley highlighted Apple's commitment to shareholder returns after the group increased its stock-repurchase program by $50 billion, while UBS said the firm hinted at seeing demand improvement in the latter weeks of April.

Apple shares gained 0.5% to $295.13 as of 10:45 a.m. in New York. The stock is up half of 1% this year, compared with an 11.5% loss in the S&P 500.

Here's a summary of what analysts had to say:

Piper Sandler, Harsh Kumar

Overweight, raises price target to $310 from $300

Apple reported March quarter results “nicely above” Street estimates, but the big news was the company not providing June quarter guidance.

For Apple's fiscal third quarter, working and learning from home should provide solid trends in the iPad and Mac segments, but economic uncertainty is causing iPhone trends to worsen.

Morgan Stanley, Katy Huberty

Overweight, raises price target to $326 from $298

Mac and iPad trends are expected to improve in the June quarter, but that will be offset by iPhone and wearables, which are less likely to shift to online purchases.

App Store and digital-services growth is sustainable, but Apple Care will slow amid store closings. Advertising revenue will also slow amid global macro weakness.

The net effect is full-year 2020 revenue and earnings per share estimates increasing 4%-5%.

UBS, Timothy Arcuri

Buy, raises price target to $325 from $290

While the company did not provide guidance, it was “directionally constructive” in that it has seen an improvement in demand during the second half of April, both within and outside of China, partly due to government stimulus.

Cowen, Krish Sankar

Outperform, price target $335

Apple's March quarter results were better than consensus in an uncertain environment. As expected, there was no June quarter guidance.

The services segment continues to benefit from the home working environment, while the cash flow-generating iPhone business should improve when lockdowns end.