Goldman Highlights Positive iPhone Data Out of China, Taiwan

Apple Inc. AAPL was trading at its highest levels ever on Wednesday after analysts at Goldman Sachs came out with a positive report on the company's outlook.

Goldman Sachs' analyst Simona Jankowski said in a report checks from Apple's supply chain bode well for iPhone sales in the quarter. Analysts typically examine Apple's supply chain for any sort of signs that can lead to a conclusion on iPhone sales.

For example, if companies within Apple's supply chain - which is said to be the most efficient in the world - report higher revenue then it's logical to conclude the companies were busy fulfilling incremental products for Apple.This happened to be case, according to Jankowski, as the simple average of quarterly year-over-year growth of six of Apple's biggest suppliers in China and Taiwan were indeed higher in the first quarter.

Jankowski did note this methodology is more of a "directional guide" and not a precise forecast.

Strong Seasonality In February

The six suppliers the analyst tracks reported sales were high by 27 percent year-over-year in February and down 18 percent month-over-month versus a three-year average month-over-month seasonality of down 34 percent.

Moreover, the trailing two-month sales period for January and February were 16 percent higher on a year-over-year basis.

China's MIIT

Finally, the analyst noted that based on China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) monthly data report, smartphone shipments in China rose 12 percent on a year-over-year basis during the first two months of 2017 to 72.8 million.

The reports also stated Android shipments rose just 5 percent to 58.3 million and non-Android shipments soared 50 percent to 14.5 million.

This could point to a rebound in iPhone shipments in China, as iPhones comprise the majority of non Android shipments; however, the data-set can be volatile," the analyst concluded.

The stock traded recently above $140.

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