Apple iPhone Shipments Are Bottoming, Says Brean

iPhone shipments seem to be bottoming in the June quarter, and Apple Inc. AAPL could be facing at least five straight quarters of incremental iPhone catalysts beginning from the December quarter, Brean Capital’s Ananda Baruah said in a report. He maintains a Buy rating for the company, with a price target of $125.

The iPhone 8 would likely be shipped mid-2017, versus Apple’s typical September time frame, and the new model may be considered a “form factor leap,” with the wrap-around AMOLED glass screen and button-less features being the most prominent, analyst Ananda Baruah mentioned.

Related Link: JPMorgan's Rod Hall Cuts Apple Target To $105, Lowers Apple Watch Estimates By 50%

Shipments Could Be Lower Than Consensus

Although shipments seem to be bottoming, they are likely to miss the consensus expectations. Baruah estimated 40 million units each for the June and September quarters, versus Street expectations of around 42 million.

“We go through all of our changes vs. Street below, but our general view is that we like AAPL lowering the bar and putting in a floor now, as well as working down channel inventory into the Sep Q ahead of the iPhone 7 launch, as we believe this could set AAPL up for essential 5 straight Q's of iPhone "catalysts" (iPhone 7 in Dec Q / Mar Q, and iPhone 8 in Jun Q '17. - Dec Q '17).”