Analyst Raises Apple Price Target On 5G, Smartphone Opportunity

Hype and hope surrounding the emerging 5G market should spur a new round of iPhone growth for Apple Inc. AAPL, D.A. Davidson said Monday.

The Analyst

Tom Forte raised the target price from $300 to $375 and reiterated a Buy rating on Apple's stock.

The Thesis

Apple can exploit a multi-year opportunity to generate iPhone sales based on the switch over to 5G, gaining sales through at least the next two product launches, Forte said.

It's also an interesting time for Apple because of a recent slowdown in iPhone sales - during which time the company sought to mitigate dropping iPhone sales with new efforts in proprietary content, financial services and health care, Forte said.

"In our view, the maturation of the smartphone market was, in hindsight, one of the best things to happen to Apple, because it forced the company to pursue noncore opportunities to drive future growth," Forte wrote in a note.

But with a return to interest in smartphones on the back of the emerging 5G market, Apple should benefit from wireless companies' desires to make returns on investment in the new 5G infrastructure. That could lead to consumer incentives, which could boost iPhone sales.

Price Action

Shares of Apple were trading up 0.7% to $312.55 at time of publication.

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