Analyst Previews Apple's (AAPL) Q2 Earnings; Raises Price Target to $135

An analyst at Broadpoint.AmTech is out with a research note previewing Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Q2 earnings report, which is expected out on Wednesday, April 22, after the close. The analyst calls Apple a "must-own technology bellweather" and maintains a Buy rating. As the AmTech analyst raised his target multiple on Apple from 15x to 17x, he also boosted his price target on Apple from $120 to $135.

AmTech's Brian Marshall sees Apple reporting Q2 GAAP EPS of $1.20, the Street high estimate. The analyst consensus for EPS is currently $1.09. The analyst believes that management will provide typical, conservative guidance; Marshall's current estimate is for Q3 EPS of $1.19, which compares to the Street estimate of $1.12, but he expects Apple to issue quarterly guidance closer to $1.00, given "historical guidance patterns".

Moving to unit metrics, Marshall believes Apple sold about 3 million iPhone's during the quarter, with Q3 guidance of 4 million units. For Mac's, Marshall has Q2 units at about 2.2 million, with Q3 guidance of about 2.3 million. Finally, for iPod's, Marshall sees Apple reporting 10 million units for Q2 with guidance of about 10 million units for next quarter.

Shares of Apple are moving about 3% higher today. The stock most recently traded at $121.32. Traders are bidding up the tech sector today ahead of Google's Q1 earnings report, which is due out after the close today.

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