Here's what major Wall Street analysts were saying about Apple:
Bernstein - Cuts price target to $160 from$210
While no one islikely to be surprised by Apple's December quarter miss, the magnitude of thefall-off in iPhones (14% in revenue terms) is likely worse than most expected.We are lowering our FY 19 revenue growth estimate to -2% (from 7%) and our FY19 EPS estimates to $12.09 (from $13.48), and our price target to $160.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch - Cuts pricetarget to $195 from $220
Morgan Stanley - Cuts price target to $211from $236
Aweakening economy combined with improved smartphone product quality (i.e.higher quality components and assembly leading to longer useful lives),smartphone ASPs that are up 22% over the past two years (per IDC) and a lack ofcarrier subsidies contributed to weaker China iPhone sales in the Decemberquarter. Our analysis of shipment data suggests that for the broader Chinasmartphone market, replacement cycles have lengthened materially in the pasttwo years (Exhibit 1), and even more so for Apple (Exhibit 2) ... Thecombination of an even weaker China and continued replacement cycle lengtheningin developed markets that are digesting lower subsidies and cheaper batteryupgrades lead us to take FY19 iPhone units down by another 20M, to 180.25M or-17% Y/Y.
J.P. Morgan - Cuts price target to $228from $266
Theguidance revision follows an already disappointing F1Q19 revenue guide issuedin early November. While most other headwinds (namely FX, tougher comps basedon product launch timing, and supply chain constraints) contemplated bymanagement already in the guide tracked in line with expectation, F1Q19preliminary results tracked substantially lower than guidance led by greatereconomic weakness in EMs and fewer phone upgrades in DMs.
Goldman Sachs - Cuts price target to $140from $182
Apple's guidance cut confirms our negative view on demandin China that we have been flagging since late September ... We are reducingour FY19 revenue estimate by 6% to $253bn and FY19 EPS By ~10% to $11.66. Weare also reducing our 12-month price target to $140 based on a 12x P/E multiple(ex. cash ~10x) as we see the potential for further downside to FY19 numbersdepending on the trajectory of Chinese demand in early 2019.
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Nokiasaw rapid expansion of replacement rates in late 2007 that was well beyond whatany linear forecast would have implied. Beyond China, we don't see strongevidence of a consumer slowdown heading into 2019 but we just flag to investorsthat we believe Apple's replacement rates are likely much more sensitive to themacro now that the company is approaching maximum market penetration for theiPhone.
Jefferies - Downgrade to hold, cuts pricetarget to $160 from $225
UBS - Cuts price target to $180 from $210
CQ4neg-pre on weak China demand; services an important silver lining AAPLannounced preliminary FQ1:19 (Mar) results w/revenue ~$84B versus prior $89-93Bguidance due almost wholly to weaker than expected emerging market demand,particularly in China. Despite the ~8% revenue miss, GM of 38% was still atlow-end of guide; other line item results imply EPS of ~$4.20 vs Street ~$4.70.The release implies China revenue declined ~25-30% Y/Y, declines last seenduring the iPhone 6S cycle due at that time to very tough iPhone 6 comps.Services notably strong w/revenue $10.8B, or ~$500MM ABOVE our model. While weare cutting AAPL estimates and price target, to us this speaks more about whyit is too early to get more +ve on semis.
Citi - Cuts price target to $170 from $200
Macquarie - Downgrade to neutral, cutsprice target to $149 from $188
Needham - Cuts price target to $180 from$200
Wedbush – Cuts price target to $200 from$275
BMO Capital Markets - Cuts price target toto $153 from $213
Piper Jaffray - Cuts price target to $187from $222
Oppenheimer
Wells Fargo - Cuts price target to $160from $210
Nomura Instinet - Cuts price target to $175from $185
WeakiPhone demand largely in China drove a large F1Q sales miss. Despite Apple'sproduction cuts through F1Q, we assume excess channel inventory will weigh onApple's shipments into mid-2019. The bright spots are that weak iPhone demandseems partially cyclical, other units are faring well, and the installed baseis rising. We lower our estimates and our target to $175, our (aging) ratingremains Neutral.
Canaccord Genuity - Cuts price target to$190 from $225
Baird – Cuts price target to $185 from $230
Raymond James
Applepreannounced a significant revenue miss for the December quarter, their firstmiss in recent memory, driven entirely by lower than expected iPhone sales. Thecompany indicated sales were particularly weak in China, which represented themajority of the revenue shortfall; however, emerging markets sales were alsosignificantly weaker than expected. While currency, component constraints, andtiming of the new products launches represented headwinds in the quarter,management indicated these factors were all broadly consistent withexpectations.