Apple iPhone shipments ‘stronger than expected’: By Investing.com analysts

Apple ( AAPL ) reported stronger-than-expected iPhone shipments for the September quarter, according to analysts at Loop Capital.

In their recent note, analysts indicated that iPhone shipments are well above initial forecasts, prompting the firm to reiterate their buy rating and $300 price target on Apple (NASDAQ: ) stock.

The company’s analysis suggests that iPhone shipments in the September quarter are expected to reach 52.5 million units, up from the 49.2 million units previously estimated.

That beats Wall Street’s average estimate of 50 million units. The robust performance is attributed to a late-quarter surge in iPhone 15 orders and continued excitement around the upcoming iPhone 16, as noted by Loop Capital.

The firm also adjusted its iPhone average selling price (ASP) estimates for the September and December quarters.

ASP for the September quarter is now projected at $926, down slightly from the previous estimate of $931, but still above the Street consensus of $886. ASP for the December quarter is revised to $958 from $998, also higher than the Street projection of $923.

This ASP adjustment puts Apple’s iPhone revenue for the September and December quarters at $48.6 billion and $79.0 billion, respectively, beating Wall Street expectations of $45 billion and $74 billion.

Loop Capital also believes that Apple is well positioned to maintain its dominance in the technology landscape, especially with the growing importance of generative AI.

The firm wrote: “Our thesis is that AAPL has an opportunity over the next several years to solidify itself as the ‘base camp’ of choice for Gen AI consumers, just as it did for social media 15 years ago.”

With Apple’s closed ecosystem and innovation in software, hardware and silicon, Loop Capital expects Apple to remain a leader in technology adoption, especially as it explores its own large language models (LLM).