Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are up 7 days in a row as the company prepares to report its quarterly earnings after the market close this April 28. The stock has been up almost 10% since its close of $119.9 last March 30. Its share price is currently trading at 131.75 as of this writing.
Analysts have mostly been bullish following the super cycle success that Apple had and a blowout quarter last earnings season. 20 Analyst have given buy recommendation versus 4 hold and 2 sells. Median price target consensus is at $151.67 over the next 12 months.
One esteemed Apple analyst, Horace Dediu predicts that Apple will see 15% year-over-year top line growth during it’s earning period. Dediu also forecasts earnings-per-share growth of 11% during the “goldilocks quarter.” That forecast is based on an analysis of Apple’s performance throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Dediu recalls comments suggesting Apple would “collapse as a business,” since no one would be purchasing luxuries like an iPhone. However, that didn’t turn out to be the case.
“The crisis has proven that technology is not a luxury but a necessity, and technology that works better is far more valuable than technology that works barely. Spending on better machines has increased. Dediu notes.
Dediu does not believe that the increase in technology consumption is all attributed to government stimulus programs as growth in iPhone sales was for all regions in the world, including poorer countries. it’s more likely that income that were not spent on vacations, dining and entertainment went towards new devices as the pandemic introduced lockdowns on a lot of cities in the world.
“The growth surely, you say, is precisely because of this disruption. The ‘work and study from home’ and lockdowns have forced people to buy more technology. Phones, Laptops, tablets are not just tools but lifelines for a society denied other forms of contact.” Dediu further writes.
There have been no new product releases this quarter for Apple and we would love to see how well the iPhone sells on its second quarter of release as well as how Apple Silicon Macs performed.
 shares are up 7 days in a row as the company prepares to report its quarterly earnings after the market close April 28.){kind=link}