Don't Believe The Hype? Analyst Says Negative Apple Reports Can't Be Verified

A disappointing month of September for Apple Inc. AAPL investors got even worse on Monday when a broad tech sector sell-off dragged the stock down another 0.8 percent. However, BlueFin Research Partners analyst John Donovan told clients Monday that they shouldn’t be too concerned about the negative Apple headlines or the stock's 6.0 percent decline since its iPhone event earlier this month.

According to Donovan, none of the reports about weak iPhone 8 preorder sales or iPhone X production delays can be verified. In addition, BlueFin has found no evidence of Apple adjusting its component orders in any way to accommodate weak iPhone 8 sales and/or iPhone X delays.

Analysts and journalists have reported that iPhone 8 orders are tracking as much as 50 percent below iPhone 7 sales at the same point last year. Donovan specifically mentioned an article from the DigiTimes claiming iPhone component orders have been delayed, shifted or reduced, but BlueFin has yet to uncover any solid evidence that these claims are true.

“Any potential component order changes would take place after a modification of build plans, which we believe is slated for later this week,” he wrote. “We do believe some level of reductions are likely, based on the reportedly muted initial iPhone 8 sales.”

In the long-term, Donovan remains bullish on Apple stock and said the company’s massive user base is going to upgrade sooner or later. Any 2017 sales impacted by potential delays in the iPhone X will simply be captured in later quarters.

With more than 350 million iPhone users with devices at least two years old driving near-term demand, as well as 450 million other iPhone users with newer devices driving longer-term demand, Donovan said the Apple story remains on-track.

Related Link: Analyst: iPhone 8 Demand Bounced Back On Day 2