Nuscale Power earnings missed by $0.02, revenue fell short of estimates
On Wednesday, Tigress Financial Partners maintained their Strong Buy rating on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and increased their price target for the company’s shares to $300. The new target reflects the firm’s confidence in Apple’s accelerating growth in services and innovation, as well as the expansion of its customer base and ecosystem. With a current market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, Apple trades at a P/E ratio of 35.4x, notably above industry averages. InvestingPro analysis suggests the stock is currently trading above its Fair Value, though analysts maintain an average price target indicating 14% potential upside.
Tigress Financial’s analysts highlighted the tech giant’s record-setting number of active devices, now totaling 2.2 billion across all products and geographic segments. Additionally, Apple has surpassed 1 billion paid subscriptions on its services platform, which includes Apple Arcade and Fitness+. The analysts pointed out that Apple’s services revenue continues to benefit from a variety of expanded applications and offerings. InvestingPro data shows Apple’s revenue reached $395.8 billion in the last twelve months, with a healthy gross profit margin of 46.5%. The company maintains a "GOOD" overall Financial Health Score of 2.81 out of 5, particularly excelling in profitability metrics.
The firm also noted Apple’s advancements in Apple Silicon and the Neural Engine, which they believe position Macs as the leading AI PCs for workloads. Apple’s proprietary technology, including the Tap to Pay feature and Private Cloud Compute, was mentioned as evidence of the company’s commitment to security, privacy, and innovation.
Tigress Financial also acknowledged Apple’s substantial return of over $30 billion to its shareholders in Q1, comprising $3.87 billion in dividends and $23.61 billion in share repurchases. The analysts remain optimistic about the company’s industry-leading position, brand equity, and its ability to generate an increasing return on capital, thereby driving economic profit and ongoing shareholder value creation.
The firm’s analysts concluded that the shares of Apple hold further upside potential, with the new 12-month target price of $300 representing a potential return, including dividends, of over 30% from current levels.
In other recent news, Visa (NYSE:V) has made a $100 million bid to replace Mastercard (NYSE:MA) as the network for the Apple credit card. This move comes amid Goldman Sachs’ plans to exit the consumer lending sector, creating a competitive environment among major payment networks. Meanwhile, a UBS analyst report highlighted a 1% decline in global iPhone sales in February, with notable underperformance in China and Europe. Despite this, Apple saw growth in India, where iPhone sales surged by 20% year-over-year.
Financial journalist Herb Greenberg criticized Apple’s product quality and strategy, pointing out issues with iOS upgrades and product durability. He also raised concerns about Apple’s financial strategy, noting significant spending on stock buybacks and dividends. In terms of analyst perspectives, Citi maintained a Buy rating on Apple stock, with a target price of $275, despite delays in Siri’s updates. These developments reflect the ongoing challenges and strategic shifts within Apple as it navigates market dynamics and technological advancements.
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