Piper Jaffray Brings Up Apple Guidance On Japan Issues In Earnings Preview (AAPL)

Piper Jaffray has an Overweight rating and a $483 price target on shares of Apple, Inc. AAPL. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "Our risk/reward analysis favors owning shares of AAPL into the Mar-11 quarter results. iPhone, Mac and iPod will likely be in line with consensus based on higher than normal visibility into those numbers. we believe the reason to own shares into the report is that while the iPad number is a wildcard given dramatic iPad 2 supply constraints that persist, it's clear iPad demand far exceeds supply, so the reported number is largely irrelevant. The takeaway likely will be that iPad was supply-constrained and has an open growth opportunity in CY11 and CY12. Assuming Apple guides June consistent with past guides implies $23.39b and $4.73 EPS (Street $23.85b and $5.27 EPS). However, Apple may guide GM and EPS even more conservatively than usual given the uncertainty surrounding Japanese component supply." Shares of AAPL gained $3.73 yesterday to close at $336.12.