Apple (AAPL) shares rose Monday on reports that demand is strong for the company’s high-end iPhone 15 phone models.
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Pre-orders for all four iPhone 15 models began Friday with availability starting September 22. The Cupertino, California-based company unveiled its 17th-generation smartphones at a media event on September 12, along with its Apple Watch Series 9 smartwatches.
The premium iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models “are tracking strongly,” Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in a note to clients on Sunday.
Meanwhile, pre-orders for iPhone 15 series phones overall are up about 10%-12% compared to last year’s iPhone 14 launch, Ives said.
Apple shares rise on pre-order news
“The mix is heavily skewed towards iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max, with Pro Max exceptionally strong in the US, China, India and parts of Europe,” Ives said. “This is a clear advantage for Apple with ASPs (average selling prices) set to be a major advantage” for the company.
Ives expects the average selling price for the iPhone 15 series to be around $925. It would have increased by around $100 over the past 12 to 15 months.
Ives rates Apple shares as outperform with a price target of 240. On the stock market today, Apple shares rose 1.7% to close at 177.97.
Get ready to wait for the iPhone 15 Pro units
Delivery times for some iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models slipped to early November, Ives said.
The longer delivery times may have to do with the limited availability of such phones, BofA Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan said in a report Monday. Apple’s contract manufacturers have run into supply constraints for some components such as the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera module.
Mohan rates Apple shares as Neutral with a price target of 208.
Early data shows a “solid start” for iPhone 15 sales, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring said in a report Monday.
“Against the most negative investor sentiment (toward Apple) we’ve seen in a decade, the iPhone 15 cycle appears to be off to a better start than feared,” Woodring said. “For example, delivery times for the iPhone 15 Pro Max average 5-6 weeks, the longest of any model launched in the last 7 years.”
Apple stock is heavily shorted
Positive iPhone 15 sales reports will put pressure on short sellers, said Jordan Klein, managing director for technology, media and telecommunications sector trading at Mizuho Securities.
“The entire hedge fund world is aggressively shorting AAPL right now,” he said in a note to clients Monday. “While I’m not a big fan of the long side in AAPL in the short term, I would also be wary of the short side given these pending data points for iPhone 15.”
Apple shares have an IBD Composite Rating of 75 out of 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The IBD Composite Rating is a blend of key fundamental and technical metrics to help investors evaluate a stock’s strengths. The best growth stocks have a composite rating of 90 or higher.
According to IBD MarketSmith charts, Apple shares formed a flat base with a 198.23 buy point.
However, on the negative side, it is trading below the 50-day moving average line. Apple shares are also near the bottom of their base.
Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
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