Apple shares zero growth or better to forget

Apple shares zero growth or better to forget

Budrigantrade.com - (NASDAQ) Apple's UBS analysts stated on Wednesday that Apple's (AAPL) App Store has been "flattish" over the past quarter.

In a note to investors, the analysts with a Buy rating and a $180 price target stated that "comps ease significantly over the next three quarters" despite the flattish trend.

"We estimate Apple's App store revenue growth is trending flattish, up just 31 bps YoY (Sensor Tower), a modest improvement relative to a 68 bps YoY decline in Q4:22," the analysts stated. "Two months into the March quarter, we estimate Apple's App store revenue growth is trending flattish."

Nonetheless, they explained that despite the modest sequential improvement on a quarter-to-date basis, growth in the United States continues to outpace that of the rest of the world in light of the disruptions to supply chains that occurred last year.

"In the December quarter, we gauge Application store development in the U.S. was up ~6.7% versus a 4.0% decrease in Column. "We believe the tough YoY comps, 600 bps of FX, and the well-documented supply disruptions that resulted in weaker iPhone sell-through and sell-in in the December quarter reflected the softness in ROW late last year," they added.

"App store comps decrease quarterly in CY23, offset by broader economic headwinds, boosting revenue from apps and services for the remainder of the year." As a result, we anticipate Services growth of 5.4 percent (Visible Alpha Consensus: 4.9 percent) in the March quarter, which will then accelerate to 6.4%, 7.4%, and 8.3% YoY growth in the three subsequent quarters (June, September, and December).

We believe that Apple shares are not relevant for investments this year.