The Apple Watch will be out soon and is getting most of the news headlines, but Apple’s stock prices are based on stock buy-back and iPhone sales. Jim Suva, a Citi analyst, posted in a note to clients saying that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have worldwide demand, important for the January-to-March quarter. Earnings for that quarter will be out April 27.
Suva said he thinks “the company will beat consensus sales by at least $1 billion and iPhone unit shipments by at least 5%.” He didn’t put much stock in Apple Watch sales: “The reason we view Apple Watch as a bonus potential catalyst is we are not impressed with the one day battery life or lack of built in GPS.” Suva believes that subsequent editions of the watch will be superior and will sell better. For now, he is predicting that we’ll see an increase in repurchase authorization and a 10 percent or more dividend increase.
