Wedbush’s Dan Ives said the iPhone 17 Air shipment’s pause in China, due to eSIM issues, is only a “near-term” hiccup.
Apple, Inc. (AAPL) stock has reversed course after the extended slide it saw amid the “Awe Dropping” event last Tuesday. As the preorders for the new iPhones commenced on Friday, retail investors and a key analyst have expressed confidence in their uptake.
Retail sentiment toward the Apple stock remained ‘extremely bullish’ (88/100) by late Sunday, and the message volume was ‘high.’
A retail investor said they see the Apple stock erupt to $250, citing a potential update from the company on preorders for the products released last week and a probable rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Apple settled Friday’s session up 1.76% at $234.07.
Another user based their bullishness on record iPhone preorders reported in China.
A South China Morning Post report said the new iPhone 17 series got off to a robust start in China, despite delays in the shipment of the latest Air model in the country. Citing JD.com, the report said sales of the newest iPhone lineup on the e-commerce retailer’s platform on Friday surpassed the first-day preorder volume of the iPhone 16 Series. The most popular volume was the standard iPhone 17 with 256GB of storage.
In a note published late Friday, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said the iPhone 17 preorders will be up 5-10%, compared to the initial sales of the previous generation of iPhones last year, given his view of a massive upgrade opportunity.
The analyst noted that the iPhone 17 Air shipment’s pause in China due to regulatory concerns about the use of an eSIM card in the variant is only a “near-term” hiccup. The Chinese government requires wireless carriers to obtain a special license before selling the device in the country.
“We believe that AAPL will gain regulatory approval soon to sell its high-demand product into this marquee region with Cook acting as [a] 10% politician and 90% CEO to ensure Cupertino is in smoother waters moving forward,” Ives said.
Wedbush has an ‘Outperform’ rating and a $270 price target for Apple stock. The shares of the tech giant have lost about 6% this year.
A GSMArena report stated deliveries for those who preordered would begin by September 19, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max variant has a pushed-out delivery date of three to four weeks, which implies October deliveries.
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