• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechApple

Why Wall Street Is Even More Excited About the iPhone 8 Than You Are

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 8, 2017, 9:29 AM ET

Apple’s new iPhone, which analysts have dubbed the iPhone 8, is days away from its grand public debut. Fans are excited but investors on Wall Street are downright euphoric–Apple shares are up 46% so far this year and recently hit an all-time high of almost $165. The stock closed at $161.26 on Thursday, amid reports that some models of the new phone might be in short supply.

Analysts are trying to figure out just how much higher Apple’s stock may go–if the stock hits about $194, Apple will become the first public company with a $1 trillion market value. That will likely depend on how many iPhones Apple sells in the third and fourth quarter after moving 45.5 million and 78.3 million, respectively, in those periods last year. With extensive rumors that the 2017 line up will include the first device with a significantly new design in three years, expectations are pretty high, at least for the end-of-year holiday shopping period.

Toni Sacconaghi at Bernstein Research is among those expecting a “super cycle” of iPhone sales thanks to pent up demand from upgraders. And he sees the stock rising to at least his target price of $175. “iPhone 8 will be the first new iPhone to be materially different than its predecessor since the iPhone 6, which triggered a strong increase in upgrade rate across Apple’s installed base,” Sacconaghi wrote in a report on Tuesday. He’s expecting iPhone sales to increase 2% to 46.4 million in the third quarter and then jump 16% for the next year to 251 million.

Apple (AAPL) could sell 46.5 million iPhones in the third quarter and 84 million for the big holiday quarter, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley. That would represent a 5% gain from the same six months of last year. “We believe with the likely launch of three new iPhones, Apple will increase market share and grow its share of industry profits,” Walkley wrote in a report last week. Shares of Apple could hit $180, he says.

Related: How Wireless Charging Could Work on Apple’s iPhone 8

Angelo Zino at CFRA sees a “record breaking” iPhone upgrade cycle, with fans eager to buy the high-end model even if costs around $1,000. “We currently expect the iPhone 8 to begin selling at $999 but think the price tag won’t impact consumers from buying the higher-priced phone,” Zino wrote on Tuesday. “When all is said and done, aggressive promotions by carriers will drop the up-front price while installment loans will make the price attainable for most.” Zino’s price target for the stock is $175.

Brian White at Drexel Hamilton is forecasting 45.4 million iPhone sales this quarter and 79.4 million for the holiday shopping quarter.

“We continue to believe Apple’s stock will not only benefit from the upcoming iPhone cycle but also the company’s capital distribution initiative, attractive valuation and potential new innovations,” White noted in a report on Thursday. “As such, we do not believe Apple’s run will end with next week’s iPhone event but still has attractive upside potential as we are projecting with our $208 price target.”

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The new models could attract more buyers who currently use an Android phone than previous iPhones, said William Power of Baird Equity Research.

“Everyone expects strong iPhone upgrades, but our latest iPhone survey also points to likely share gains from Android, as a larger percentage of current Android users are planning to purchase an iPhone compared to our previous year surveys,” Power wrote in a September 5 report. But Power foresees only modest gains for shareholders, placing his price target at $172.

Some analysts are concerned that manufacturing difficulties during the summer will limit the available quantity of the new high-end phone for months. Following similar recent reports, the Wall Street Journalreported on Thursday that supplies of the new phones could be tight leading to “extended supply shortfalls and shipping delays.”

Related: Apple Is Relying on Its Biggest Competitor for OLED Displays on the New iPhone

“Supply constraints on Apple’s OLED iPhone are likely to prevent meaningful demand indicators in the coming months and limit near-term downside risk in the shares,” Andy Hargreaves at Keybanc Capital Markets wrote on Wednesday regarding some of the prior reports. “Beyond the near term, we expect high-end smartphone market saturation and elongating holding periods to limit profit growth and prevent outsized appreciation from current levels.”

Apple’s share may be overvalued, he warns. “We expect high-end smartphone market saturation and elongated holding periods to limit profit growth and prevent outsized appreciation from current levels,” Hargreaves wrote.

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

satellite
AIData centers
Google’s plan to put data centers in the sky faces thousands of (little) problems: space junk
By Mojtaba Akhavan-TaftiDecember 3, 2025
4 hours ago
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
AIMeta
Inside Silicon Valley’s ‘soup wars’: Why Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI are hand-delivering soup to poach talent
By Eva RoytburgDecember 3, 2025
5 hours ago
Greg Abbott and Sundar Pichai sit next to each other at a red table.
AITech Bubble
Bank of America predicts an ‘air pocket,’ not an AI bubble, fueled by mountains of debt piling up from the data center rush
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 3, 2025
5 hours ago
Alex Karp smiles on stage
Big TechPalantir Technologies
Alex Karp credits his dyslexia for Palantir’s $415 billion success: ‘There is no playbook a dyslexic can master … therefore we learn to think freely’
By Lily Mae LazarusDecember 3, 2025
6 hours ago
Isaacman
PoliticsNASA
Billionaire spacewalker pleads his case to lead NASA, again, in Senate hearing
By Marcia Dunn and The Associated PressDecember 3, 2025
6 hours ago
Kris Mayes
LawArizona
Arizona becomes latest state to sue Temu over claims that its stealing customer data
By Sejal Govindarao and The Associated PressDecember 3, 2025
6 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
North America
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combating homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Ford workers told their CEO 'none of the young people want to work here.' So Jim Farley took a page out of the founder's playbook
By Sasha RogelbergNovember 28, 2025
5 days ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Anonymous $50 million donation helps cover the next 50 years of tuition for medical lab science students at University of Washington
By The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
MacKenzie Scott's $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says we’re just a decade away from a new normal of extraterrestrial data centers
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 1, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Law
Netflix gave him $11 million to make his dream show. Instead, prosecutors say he spent it on Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, and wildly expensive mattresses
By Dave SmithDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.