Analysts At Baird, UBS Debate Apple's Stock

Will Power of R.W. Baird and Steven Milunovich of UBS were both guests on CNBC's segment of "Squawk Alley" to talk about Apple Inc. AAPL's stock. According to Power, Wall Street's consensus estimates on Apple's earnings heading into fiscal 2017 are "too high" as the Street's expectations for the iPhone 7 are "too lofty." Accordingly, the analyst sees downside risk in Apple's stock despite trading near multi-year lows. On the other hand, Power suggested that investors should value Apple's stock at a premium to the historical 5-6x on consumer hardware stocks. The analyst added that even at an approximate 8x multiple on his Street low estimates implies an approximate valuation of $87 to $90 per share. Meanwhile, Power has a $115 price target on Apple's stock. He explained that over a longer-term horizon (heading into the eventual iPhone 8) the stock will "work better." Milunovich jumped in and said that Apple's stock is "relatively inexpensive" and "over-sold." He noted that a recent proprietary survey of 6,000 consumers across the world suggests that interest in the iPhone 7 will be greater than the current iPhone 6S but not as strong as the iPhone 6. He added that Apple should be viewed as a "platform company which gives it optionality down the road" with its billion-plus devices across hundreds of millions of users. Milunovich concluded that the next 3 to 6 months for Apple will be "tough" but after that time period the stock likely "has better upside than downside."