Apple's Stock Will Outperform Other FAANG Stocks In 2020, Long-Term Future 'Among The Brightest', Munster Says

Apple Inc. AAPL has the "brightest" future of all technology giants, even if the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has temporarily impacted the company's business, Loup Ventures Managing Partner Gene Munster said in a note Sunday.

What Happened

According to Munster, Apple will also outperform the rest of FAANG stocks, which include Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Netflix Inc. NFLX, and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG, in the financial year 2020.

"Apple is among the best-positioned major tech companies when we turn the corner," the former research analyst said.

Munster noted that Apple has one of the strongest cash positions of all companies at $99 billion, second only to Google parent company Alphabet's $117 billion, helping it weather through the pandemic.

In the long-term, the demand for its products and services is expected to increase based on pre-existing trends, the Loup Ventures co-founder predicted.

These trends include 5G-based device upgrades, increased share in subscription video on demand sector with the Apple TV+ service, continued penetration of software services, rise in health wearables, and augmented reality "emerging as the next major computing platform," according to Munster.

"Apple investors should rest easy," he said, forecasting a 12% revenue growth in the financial year 2021 at $277 billion, following a 5% slump this year.

The consumer electronics company's GAAP earnings per share will rise 32% in FY21 at $15.12, compared to a 4% drop in FY20, Munster added.

Why It Matters

Apple downgraded its expectations for the second-quarter earnings of FY20 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in China, saying that both its supply chain and the demand for its products was severely impacted.

The coronavirus, which has since infected 1.8 million people worldwide, forced the company to close all its retail outlets outside of China indefinitely.

Other technology companies have been similarly impacted by the pandemic, but some, including Amazon and Microsoft Corporation MSFT, have seen a rise in their business due to the pandemic.

Price Action

Apple shares closed 0.72% higher at $267.99 on Thursday.