Key points:
- Apple stock rose premarket
- Morgan Stanley said Apple is one of its top picks
- Last week KeyBanc said it remains bullish on Apple
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares rose premarket after Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring labelled the stock a “top pick” due to its ability to withstand a market and economic downturn.
The analyst kept an Overweight rating on the stock but cut the price target to $177 from $180 in a note to investors on Monday, stating that consumer and enterprise checks “deteriorated” in 3Q.
Woodring believes this suggests additional downside to estimates for IT hardware companies. He added that although valuation multiples are lower, they are “not at troughs,” and while the market is increasingly pricing in “bad news,” it is too early to shift to positive on hardware stocks.
Woodring said he continues to have a quality bias and prefers Apple as one of the top ideas.
Also Read: Does Apple Pay Dividends?
Apple shares are down 22% in 2022 and have declined over 10% in the last month.
Last week, Credit Suisse its price target on Apple to $190 from $201, maintaining an Outperform rating ahead of the tech giant's quarterly results.
Analyst Shannon Cross lowered her 2023 and 2024 estimates due to a weaker consumer backdrop and rolled forward her valuation to 2024 EPS. Cross lifted her fourth-quarter revenue estimate by 1% to $89.68 billion and EPS by $0.04 to $1.30 ahead of Apple's October 27 earnings. The analyst believes iPhone benefited from strong demand and mix shift to Pro and Pro Max models. Meanwhile, last Tuesday, KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel said the firm remains bullish on Apple and kept an Overweight rating and $185 price target on the stock.
Elsewhere, Apple recently announced its new high-yield savings account for Apple Card, allowing users to save their Daily Cash.