Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) price target was cut to $210 from $215 at Morgan Stanley on Monday as the firm believes the company's F4Q23 is unlikely to settle any bull/bear debates.
Analysts, who maintained an Overweight rating on the stock, told investors in a note that they expect an in-line September quarter but believe iPhone supply shortages and a stronger USD are likely to result in a below-seasonal December quarter guide "but above seasonal March Q."
"We are raising our Sept Q estimates slightly, but lowering Dec Q estimates by 5-9% (still 0-1% above Consensus) due to iPhone 15 pushout," the analysts wrote. "We expect Apple to post a relatively in-line September quarter, with our $89.9B revenue forecast and $1.39 EPS forecast 0-1% above Consensus."
"However, we are now more guarded on the December quarter (F1Q24) than our prior forecast implied - not because of worsening demand data points - but because supply (both labor and component) remains a headwind that is resulting in a pushout of iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max demand from the December '23 quarter to the March '24 quarter," they added.
The firm doesn't see Apple's upcoming earnings release on November 2 as a material stock catalyst.
Analysts also noted that there has been no change to overall iPhone builds from the supply chain, but limited iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max supply is resulting in a pushout of 7M iPhone builds from December to early 2024.