Morgan Stanley Reiterates Overweight Rating on Apple Ahead of Earnings, $315 Price Target

Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring reiterated an Overweight rating and $315.00 price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).

“We expect Apple to trade sideways to modestly lower after earnings on Thursday, as while iPhone 17 strength remains underappreciated by the Street — we are 4-8% above Consensus iPhone revenue in the December/March quarters — (1) Consensus is 7% too low on March quarter Opex, and (2) we are 30bps below Street gross margins in the March quarter, which is likely to limit any positive EPS revisions, even if revenue surprises to the upside.

Furthermore, we also see downside risk to Street June quarter EPS (MSe at $1.62 vs.

Consensus of $1.71) given memory costs headwinds continue to intensify, which are not fully incorporated by Consensus.

Finally, we’d remind our readers that seasonally, Apple historically underperforms the S&P more in C1Q than in any other quarter of the year, by a median of 400bps.

These 3 factors are what keep us tactically cautious ahead of earnings.”

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