Apple (AAPL) price target lifted at KeyBanc despite near-term concerns

The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) price target was raised to $200 from $180 at KeyBanc on Tuesday, with the firm maintaining an Overweight rating on the stock.

However, despite the long-term bullish view, analyst Brandon Nispel told investors that KeyBanc is still neutral on the stock in the near term.

"We reiterate our below consensus Hardware revenue ests. for F3Q23," wrote Nispel, who said they have two concerns about the stock.

"KFLD [Key first look data] (Apple direct channel) shows Indexed Spending for June was +23% m/m vs. the three-year average of +2% m/m, and while our June data was better than the historical avg. for F3Q, our KFLD shows -15% q/q, worse than the three-year historical avg. of -9% q/q," he explained.

Secondly, KeyBanc believes AAPL's indirect channel (U.S. Carriers) will be soft, with U.S. upgrade rates moving to historical lows.

"With U.S. sales not tracking great, upside Internationally needs to drive results. Our PT is $200 or 20.8x our 2024 adj. EBITDA estimates," the analyst concluded.

By Sam Boughedda

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