Analysts race to lower Apple stock price targets
After getting pounded last week, Apple’s stock got a reprieve from investors on Monday, rising $9.95, or 2.3%, to $449.83.
But how long that will last remains to be seen. Analysts continue to lower their target for Apple’s stock price, which has fallen dramatically since it peaked at $702.10 last September.
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Back on Sept. 19, when the stock reached the closing high, a consensus of 63 analysts on Bloomberg had a target price of $777.67 for the next 12 months. On the eve of the first-quarter earnings call last week, that target had tumbled to $640.85.
Since that call, the target price has fallen further, to $621.76. And some are worried that’s not low enough.
In a note to investors on Monday, Will Power, equity analyst at R.W. Baird, downgraded the stock from “outperform” to “neutral.” He lowered his target price from $570 to $465.
“We are increasingly wary of several near-term risks, particularly consensus estimates that we believe remain frustratingly too high,” Power wrote. “With estimates likely to fall further and gross margin concerns likely to linger, we believe the shares could drop further, despite the sharp sell-off and valuation.”
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