JPMorgan said Apple’s strong performance this year could see the stock go even higher in 2025. The iPhone maker will beat the S&P 500 by nearly 35% in 2024, compared with the broader index’s gain of about 27%. Apple hit a new high on Thursday and was on pace for a fifth straight session of gains. The stock fell only three times throughout December. AAPL YTD Peak AAPL, YTD Its gains come as technology stocks more broadly helped lift the broader market earlier in the week, with all three major indexes posting consecutive gains on Monday and Tuesday. Like Apple, shares of other large tech stocks Nvidia and Meta Platform also edged higher over the two trading days. With just days left in the new year, analyst Samik Chatterjee is taking a bullish stance on Apple. “We see strength in several aspects of the business and financials that investors still underestimate, namely the company’s transition to services, installed base growth, technology leadership and capital deployment,” he wrote in a recent note. Selective. The iPhone upgrade cycle is coming. The analyst has an overweight rating on Apple, with a price target of $265, implying an increase of more than 2% from Tuesday’s closing price. He believes that the launch of the iPhone 17 will bring a boost. Driven by the launch of the company’s artificial intelligence platform Apple Intelligence, iPhone sales will usher in an upgrade cycle. In this regard, Chatterjee expects iPhone sales to increase from 230 million units in fiscal 2024 and 2025 to fiscal 2026. 251 million units in 2027, a growth rate of 9% between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2027. But Chatterjee said Apple could still make gains even without artificial intelligence, although profit forecasts may look “significantly different.” ”, but analysts see limited downside to sales amid “stabilizing” consumer spending. If the power of artificial intelligence fails to kick in, Chatterjee expects revenue to grow at a mid-single-digit rate. He noted that in This growth will lead to earnings growth of 8% to 10%, supported by margin expansion and share buybacks. “While the volume upcycle is the key to the AI bull market, a bull market without AI depends on services revenue growth and. Healthy revenue and earnings growth led by margins, limited scope for further declines in iPhone sales, and premium valuations intact while investors await data points on consumer traction as AI capabilities are steadily rolling out,” he added . Dealing with tariff threats Chatterjee believes Apple can successfully counter any threats related to President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans through “modest” pricing. During his campaign, Trump called for tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese goods. Last month, he reinforced that sentiment, vowing to impose 10% tariffs on Chinese goods and 25% on products from Mexico and China. The analyst, like others on Wall Street, said the company could mitigate any potential impact by expanding production in other countries such as India. Chatterjee said: “If tariffs are specifically targeted at Chinese manufacturing, we expect Apple to use its expanding assembly operations in India to meet U.S. consumer iPhone demand, thereby mitigating the volume-related headwinds from the tariffs.” Chatterjee said. Tegui’s forecast is among those of most analysts on Wall Street who are similarly optimistic. Of the 49 analysts covering Apple, 35 have strong buy or buy ratings, according to LSEG. On the other hand, 12 of them took a neutral stance and assigned a Hold rating. Apple shares rose 0.3% during trading on Thursday, and are up more than 9% so far this month.
