The analysts this morning were piling on superlatives. Will the market follow their lead?
Apple’s (AAPL) record quarter inspired a flurry of glowing reviews and rising price targets. Here’s a sample; more as they come in:
Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner: Antennagate Schmantennagate. “We were expecting Apple to deliver a strong F3Q10. But we hadn’t girded ourselves for a mammoth revenue forecast, and neither, we believe, had the Street. To those (like us) who fretted that Antennagate might hamper iPhone sales, Apple’s guidance seems to say, antennagate schmantennagate.”
RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky: No Deodorant Like Success. “Apple is benefiting from a cascade of 3 strong, synergistic product cycles: iPhone, iPad and Mac, which are now combining together to drive the strongest outperformance in 4 years – with more to come.”
Gleacher & Co’s Brian Marshall: Yowza! No Cannibalistic Trends in this Model… “We were most impressed with the source of upside as it came from Macs and iPhones – a development which basically negates the bear argument the iPad will be cannibalistic to existing product families.”
Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty: Earnings Momentum Returns to Center Stage. “Investors expected few surprises in the June quarter due to Apple updating shipment progress for iPad/iPhone over the past three months. But, Mac and iPhone shipments both surprised positively and most importantly, revenue guidance was un-characteristically strong.”
Kaufman Bros.’ Shaw Wu: Surprising Mac and iPhone Strength. “Apple continues to beat expectations despite a tough macroeconomic environment, one of a few companies able to handily do so… The revenue guidance was surprisingly strong, we think AAPL could be indirectly expressing confidence that ‘antennagate’ concerns are overdone.”
Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster: Another Stellar Quarter. “While Apple had yet another stellar quarter, investors will wonder if the pace of growth is sustainable. We believe it is, given Apple has small market share in large, growing markets. We estimate that if Apple meets our Mac, iPhone, and iPad targets in 2011, the company will have only about 5% market share in the phone and computer markets, a number that will likely grow over time.” Raising price target to $371 from $351.
Janney Capital’s William Fearnley: ¡Carumba! “And Verizon? We don’t think anyone knows for sure, and Apple likely gets even more secretive after the lost prototype incident. Our view? Spring 2011, and Apple holds the keys here. Do they build a dual mode phone with CDMA? We think they do, but not until next year and after the Holiday season.”
J.P. Morgan’s Mark Moskowitz: The Train Is Leaving the Station. Raising price target to $400 from $390
Bernstein Research’s Toni Sacconaghi: Raising target to $325 from $300.
Citigroup’s Richard Gardner: Raising price target to $350 from $330.
Susquehanna’s Jeff Fidacaro: Raising price target to $365 from $355.
Barklays Capital’s Ben Reitzes: Raising price target to $340 from $325.
Stifel Nicolaus’ Doug Reid: Raising price target to $350 from $340.
Merrill Lynch’s Scott Craig: Raising price target to $360 from $340.
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[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]
