Goldman calls Apple launch ‘impressive’ in lifting stock-price t

Goldman calls Apple launch ‘impressive’ in lifting stock-price target

 

By Sara Sjolin

Published: Sept 10, 2014 8:56 a.m. ET

                   

          

         

Analysts see 205 million iPhones sold in 2015

                                                      

By

SaraSjolin

Markets reporter

 

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The verdict is out on the new Apple products, and the ruling from Goldman Sachs is this: “Impressive.”

Impressive enough to raise earnings forecasts and Apple’s stock-price target, it seems.

The investment bank’s analysts said in a note on Wednesday — a day after the feverishly anticipated product launch — that the new devices had met sky-high expectations and that the iPhone 6 series in particular stood out. “The iPhone refresh was by far the most impactful announcement for Apple’s bottom line,” the analysts wrote.

Goldman Sachs said it thinks Apple AAPL, +0.21% will sell around 62 million new iPhones in the final quarter of this year and 205 million in 2015, in line with previous forecasts.

But because Apple excluded a sapphire screen — which is incredibly expensive to manufacture — from the iPhone 6, the analysts now expect full-year earnings of $7.67 a share in the 2015 fiscal year rather than the $7.57 expected previously. They see the stock reaching $115 within 12 months, compared with the $107 they had forecast before the launch even. They also reiterated the buy rating.

Also read: No sapphire screen dents GT Advanced Technologies

What did the analysts particularly like in Tuesday’s announcement? The larger screens on the new phones, as they will be “an important driver of improved growth in that segment,” they wrote.

They also liked Apple Pay and the Apple Watch because the devices expand Apple’s platform and further feed into the tech giant’s operating system, iOS. The analysts found the watch to be “surprisingly innovative,” although they don’t expect it to be a financial game changer for the company.

Most analysts at other investment banks also kept their buy ratings on Apple. Apple shares were down 0.4% ahead of the open.

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