Apple (AAPL) Price Target Raised by Barclays Analyst Amid Q3 Earnings Beat

Barclays's Tim Long raised their price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) by 12.1% from $149 to $167 on 2023/08/04. The analyst maintained their Hold rating on the stock.

In a note assessing Apple's Q3 2023 print on August 3rd, Long stated that the results were "as expected" by the Street. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.26, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.19 and Q3 2022's $1.20 by 5%. However, Apple's revenue of $81.8 billion was roughly in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and missed Q3 2022's $82.96 billion by 1%.

The analyst highlighted that Apple saw better performance in its Services segment but weaker results in Hardware. Long also noted that management "cautiously guided" to Q4 year-over-year growth similar to this quarter, which is roughly 2% below consensus expectations.

An interesting observation made by Long was that this was the first time in over 20 years that Apple experienced four consecutive quarters with revenue declines. This highlights the challenges the company has faced in recent times.

Looking ahead to Apple's Q4 2023, management provided guidance for "Y/Y revenue performance similar to Q3." They also projected a gross margin of 44% to 45% and operating expenses (Opex) of $13.5 billion to $13.7 billion.

CEO Tim Cook commented on the company's performance, stating, "We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during Q3, driven by over 1 billion paid subscriptions, and we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone."

In terms of analyst updates on August 4th, several other experts provided their assessments of Apple. Erik Woodring from Morgan Stanley lowered their price target by 2.3% to $220 but maintained their Strong Buy rating on the stock. Srini Pajjuri from Raymond James, on the other hand, raised their price target by 11.1% to $180 and maintained their Buy rating. Similarly, Michael Walkley from Canaccord Genuity raised their price target by 10.8% to $185 and maintained their Strong Buy rating.

Overall, 75% of top-rated analysts currently rate AAPL as a Strong Buy or Buy, while 20.8% see it as a Hold. Only 4.2% recommend or strongly recommend selling the stock.

The consensus forecast among analysts indicates that AAPL's upcoming year will deliver earnings per share (EPS) of $6.32. This would represent a 5.7% increase on a year-over-year basis.

Since Apple's latest quarterly report on August 3rd, the stock price has declined by 4.8%. However, on a year-over-year basis, the stock is up 9.8%. During this period, AAPL has outperformed the S&P 500, which has seen a 7.9% increase.

Tim Long, the Barclays analyst who provided the updated price target, is ranked in the top 10% of Wall Street analysts by WallStreetZen. With an average return of 5.7% and a 50% win rate, Long specializes in the Industrials, Technology, and Real Estate sectors.

Apple Inc., headquartered in Cupertino, California, is a global company that designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. The company also offers various services and operates platforms such as the App Store, Apple Music, and Apple Pay. Despite facing revenue declines in recent quarters, Apple continues to innovate and expand its presence in emerging markets.

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