Yesterday was the start of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, and Wall Street analysts seemed to emerge pretty optimistic on the changes that were announced to the company’s products.
While new devices are not typically introduced at this event, there are a wave of software updates. This year the tech giant is announcing faster loading times for apps on the Apple Watch, a redesign for music, Apple Pay availability on the Web and a number of changes to its messaging app, among other things.
Despite having had a tough year, with the stock losing almost a quarter of its value over the past 12 months, Wall Street remains bullish with only two analysts calling the stock a sell and 42 recommending it as a buy.
Here’s what some of them had to say after the first day of the conference.
Piper Jaffray Companies’ Gene Munster said that the event was “largely incremental and a warm-up” for the northern hemisphere autumn, when Apple is expected to release new products.
However, these changes are important, as Munster says they will help Apple stay ahead of the competition in terms of hardware and software. He has an overweight rating and price target of US$153.
Drexel Hamilton’s Brian J White was very bullish coming out of the event, saying in his updated research that these changes will not only keep Apple edge past its peers but make it much harder for others to catch up as well.
“We find it virtually impossible for Android-based competitors to ever create a digital matrix that rivals ‘Planet Apple.'”
He has a outperform rating and price target of $185.
Bmo Capital Markets’ Tim Long called the announcements a “positive step” for strength in Apple’s ecosystem. He was most impressed by the Apple Watch improvements. He also rates the stock outperform, and has a price target of $118.
RBC Capital Markets’ Amit Daryanani said the biggest takeaways were Siri’s integration with more platforms, Apple Pay on the Web, the announcement of 15m paying Apple Music subscribers and letting third-party developers have access to some of Apple’s products including Maps and messaging. RBC also has an outperform rating with a price target of $120.
JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Rod Hall said he was impressed with the updates, but doesn’t expect them to have any impact on Apple’s earnings in the near term. He has an overweight recommendation on the stock, with a price target of $125.
Sanford C Bernstein & Co’s Toni Sacconaghi said many of the announcements were expected given the efficiency of the “Apple blog-o-sphere”, but added that these changes were a step in the right direction for the firm.
“Many of Apple’s announcements appeared to be playing catch-up versus competitive offerings, or were attempts to close the gap on shortcomings with existing Apple offerings. That said, what struck us was a notably improved level of software and services integration within and across Apple’s hardware products, which we believe will genuinely improve the Apple user experience and strengthen platform loyalty (or at a minimum, mitigate defection).”
He remains overweight the stock and has a price target of $135.
Raymond James & Associates’ Tavis McCourt and Mike Koban were impressed with the growth in Apple Music subscribers as well as the faster loading times for apps on the Apple Watch. They kept their market perform rating and did not give a price target.
Cowen & Co’s Timothy Arcuri said the updated software “deepens and broadens” the Apple ecosystem.
“With the introduction of new versions for all four of its operating systems, WWDC highlighted even more seamless integration across Apple devices and platforms to further bolster the allure and stickiness of the ecosystem.”
He has an outperform rating and price target of $125. — (c) 2016 Bloomberg LP
