BMO Capital Sees NO Impact from Apple (AAPL) Beijing Patent Ruling

BMO Capital analyst Tim Long weighed in on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) following reports that the patent office in Beijing has ordered Apple to stop sales of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, ruling that the device violates the design patents of a small local handset vendor.

They do not believe the impact of the ruling is meaningful.

There view:

• The ruling is limited to models released nearly two years ago, and does not seem to include recent phones like the 6S or the SE. Additionally, the ruling may only relate to sales in Beijing.
• We believe all sales are continuing as before, possibly because Apple has filed an opposing motion.
• We believe there have been several prior cases against US companies ruled in favor of local companies by lower courts that were later overturned by higher courts.
• We have seen dozens of court decisions banning different smartphone products over the years in many different countries. We are not aware of one ever that has resulted in an actual injunction.
• We make no changes to our estimates and maintain our Outperform rating on AAPL shares.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Apple click here. For more ratings news on Apple click here.

Shares of Apple closed at $97.55 yesterday.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Maxim Group Starts Apple (AAPL) at Hold, 'Dead Money'
• Piper Sandler Downgrades Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. (MGY) to Neutral
• Apple plans to invest more than $250 million to expand Singapore campus