By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s still going strong with healthy demand in China, Cowen said.
The firm reiterated a buy-equivalent rating on the company maker after iPhone field checks showed demand remains strong.
Shares were little changed on Friday as the broader market strengthened.
"We view iPhone demand in China as healthy in the current environment," analyst Krish Sankar wrote, according to StreetInsider.
"After four months of increases, C1Q iPhone builds were unchanged over the past month at 57M units (+54% Y/Y). Combined with our C2Q forecast of 44M (+26% Y/Y), we believe our C1H forecast of 101M continues to run above market expectations for approx. mid-/high-90M and counter to some views for builds being reduced to ~75M," the Cowen analyst said.
Shares are down about 15% since January, when they hit a record. The stock had more than doubled over 2020 through the all-time high.
Meanwhile, the company is considering creating an Apple Watch with a rugged casing aimed at athletes and others who use the device in extreme environments, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company reported its best quarterly revenue ever for the period ended in December, with over $111 billion in sales, versus the expected $103 billion. It was almost twice the previous quarter's revenue.