Apple target raised to $168 at Maxim Group -- Buyers heading into AAPL's lame duck quarter as survey data indicates on precipice of multi-year investment upcycle
Maxim Group raises their AAPL tgt to $168 from $157. For Q3, firm continues to model $41.8B (down 16% y/y) in rev (guidance is $41B to $43B), largely driven by a 21% y/y decline in iPhone units (sell-in) to 37.8M units. Notably, firm is modelling for iPhone units sell-out to be down 21% q/q, which compares to a past 4 year average of down 18% q/q, which is conservative if the iPhone SE is proving to drive a proportionately higher number of incremental users into the iPhone ecosystem than the iPhone 6C. For Q4, firm continues to model $45.1B in rev (down only 9% y/y), largely driven by a moderation in the iPhone y/y unit decline to 11% y/y to 42.1M units. Importantly, utilizing the Sept 2015 quarter channel inventory level (look ahead basis) of 3.4 weeks, firm models for an 8% q/q decline in iPhone unit sell-out, which compares favorably to the past 5 year average of down 3% q/q.