INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Goldman Sachs said on Friday it expects iPhone shipment to drop 36 per cent during the current quarter due to coronavirus-related lockdowns
around the world and downgraded Apple Inc stock to "sell".
Apple shares fell 1.6 per cent to $282.13 on Friday morning, bucking a 1.5 per
cent rise for the benchmark S-P 500.
The Goldman analysts also lowered their price target for the stock by 7 per cent to $233 in its report
forecasting the drop in iPhone demand for the quarter ending in June, Apple's fiscal third quarter.
The brokerage noted that average selling
prices for consumer devices are likely to decline during a recession and remain weak well beyond the point when units recover.
"We do not
assume that this downturn results in Apple losing users from its installed base
We simply assume that existing users will keep devices longer and choose less expensive Apple options when they do buy a new device,"
Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia, which holds Apple
shares, said he expects a significant drop in iPhone sales, but 36 per cent seemed "extreme."
“I view some of that as deferred demandI
think some of that will come back in succeeding quarters,” Tuz said.
A Goldman "sell" rating is relatively rare
Of the stocks in the investment bank's global equity coverage universe, 15 per cent have sell ratings, compared with 46 per cent "buy" and
39 per cent "hold."
Of the 40 analysts covering Apple shares, 30 have "buy" or "strong buy" ratings, seven have "hold" ratings, and three
have "sell", according to Refinitiv.
Earlier this week, Apple released a smaller iPhone priced at $399, lowering the starting price for the
company's smartphone line to broaden its appeal among budget-conscious customers.
Goldman said it does not expect the company to launch the
upcoming iPhone models until early November, as limited global travel could impede Apple's final engineering and production process.
Since
the S-P 500 hit an all-time high on Feb
19, Apple shares are down about 13 per cent against a 16 per cent decline for the overall index.