Apple’s Stock Dips As Low iPhone Demand Prompts Price Target Cuts

Apple’s stock was under pressure in trading Thursday (Dec. 6) after two Wall Street firms reduced their price targets on the iPhone maker due to lackluster demand.

According to a report in CNBC, citing UBS Analyst Timothy Arcuri, purchase intention for the iPhone “was down across the board,” with the biggest dips being seen in the U.S. and China. Arcuri said in a research note to clients that iPhone buying intent in the U.S. is at a five-year low, and is now close to the same level as the iPhone 6S.

UBS surveyed 6,900 consumers across five countries, noted CNBC. Among U.S. consumers, only 18 percent said they will purchase an iPhone in the next 12 months, which is down from 21 percent in 2017. It’s also close to the 17 percent that indicated in October of 2015 that they were going to purchase an iPhone 6S. As for China, the analyst said interest has reached a new low in the country, where purchase intent is at 23 percent, down 6 percent from a year ago.

Due to the survey results, UBS cut its price target on Apple to $210 from $225 a share, but kept the buy rating on the stock. Meanwhile, Rosenblatt Securities also slashed Apple’s price target to $165 from $200, also due to lower shipments of iPhones, reported CNBC.

“We have lowered our iPhone shipment estimates for C1Q19 twice over the last two months,” Rosenblatt Analyst Jun Zhang wrote in a note. “Although we are at the low end of consensus iPhone estimates, we believe the Street will continue to trim down their estimates.”

The Wall Street firm also lowered its earnings estimates for Apple for next year. Currently, its estimates are 3 percent lower than what the consensus of Wall Street analysts are looking for in Apple’s earnings for next year.