- Two major investment banks, Bank of America and RBS Capital Markets raised their price target for Apple stock, continuing the trend of financial institution’s optimism reflected in numerous recent bullish price target revisions.
- Apple reached an exclusive deal with former HBO CEO Richard Plepler. Plepler will produce original content for Apple’s new streaming service Apple TV+.
Smart Money Optimism Trend Continues as Both Bank of America and RBS Raises their Apple Stock Price Targets
Since Apple’s Fiscal Q4 earnings report was published, we reported on series of major price target revisions made by leading investment banks and other financial firms. The optimism of finance professionals regarding Apple stock remains strong, as two major financial players started 2020 with new bullish price target revisions.
On January 3, Bank of America raised Apple stock price target to $330, less than four weeks after the investment bank’s latest revision to $290. Wamsi Mohan, BoA senior analyst predicts that demand for iPhone will be strong throughout 2020. In addition, Mohan’s bullish outlook relies on the positive effect that 5G adoption could have on Apple’s sales, the company’s strong wearables portfolio and the continued year over year gross profit growth the company demonstrated in the past.
In addition, the investment bank RBS raised the price target for Apple stock to $330 from $295. Like Mohan, RBC’s analyst Robert Muller also relies on strong iPhone demand together with increasing interest in wearables AirPods. Muller also mentioned that the investment bank’s recent estimations are backed by social media web- scraping analysis which indicated higher customer interest and satisfaction from both the new iPhone lineup and the new AirPods.
As mentioned, those new price targets are consistent with the recent bullish trend that reflected in various price target revisions made by major financial players. Since Apple’s 2019 Q4 earnings report was released at the end of October, seven financial institutions (Among them, 4 top investment banks: Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Bank of America) lifted their price target for Apple stock. Most of those revisions were based on analysis’ that highlighted the same growth drivers: 5G technology and high demand for Apple wearables- the same drivers that were presented in RBS’s and BoA’s new price targets.
On November 21, I Know First published a bullish forecast for apple stock generated by its algorithm, with a high signal of 242.9 for the 12-month time horizon. The forecast was published together with the analysis report by senior analyst Motek Moyen, with a price target of $290. The forecast, together with the Moyen’s analysis, successfully predicted the stock price movement, before most of the price revisions mentioned above were made (except Morgan Stanley’s price target that was published on November 20). Since our last Apple Stock News report delivered last week, Apple stock surpassed Moyen’s original price target for the first time, as it reached a new record and now set on $297.4 (as of January 5).
Apple Signed an Exclusive Deal With Former HBO CEO to Produce Movies, TV Shows and Documentaries
On January 2, CNBC reported that Apple and Richard Plepler, former HBO CEO, signed an exclusive five-year agreement. Plepler’s company, Eden Production, will produce original content for Apple TV+. Plapper worked in HBO for 27 years and left less than a year ago after AT&T purchased Time Warner, the parent company of HBO. He is known for his role in turning HBO into a destination for quality content like “Game of Thrones”.
This new deal could strengthen Apple’s content library in the near future, as the streaming war between the company and well-established content giants like Netflix and Disney will intensify. The deal also indicates a strong commitment from Apple’s management, which already spent approximately $6 Billion of its budget on original content for the new streaming service.
