AT&T Smartphone Numbers Has Wells Fargo Analyst Comfortable with Apple (AAPL) iPhone Estimates

Wall Street has been mixed on what AT&T's record 10 million smartphone number could mean for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). Analysts at Wells Fargo are the latest to weight in.

Looking at AT&T's Q4 2011, analyst Maynard Um notes iPhone activations as a percentage of smartphones sales were about 81%. Assuming the same percentage in Q4 2012 this would imply 8.1MM iPhone activations.

"This announcement, coupled with our recent checks, provides us with additional comfort in our December quarter iPhone estimate of 46MM."

Um notes he will look for additional reads from Verizon's earnings call on January 22, 2013 and Sprint (which has not yet been set), heading into Apple's earnings call on January 23, 2013, at 5pm ET

The firm reiterated an Outperform rating and $710-$730 valuation range.

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 $523.90 yesterday.

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