Apple Is Easily a $700 or $750 Stock: Strategist
By: 
Despite several factors weighing on Apple’sstock price, one analyst forecast that the company’s possible release of a new iPhone would be a homerun for the company.
Amid rumors swirling of fall releases for Apple’s new phone and a smaller iPad, Channing Smith, director of equity strategies at Capital Advisors, said he will be watching to see whether the company’s gross margins begin deteriorating or it stops innovating.
“We think this is just going to be a homerun for Apple, and that quarter is going to be enormous,” Smith told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” about the upcoming smartphone launch. “And a lot of that demand is probably going to be pushed back as a lot of consumers wait for the new product.”
Still, Smith cautioned that the stock price could fall to $550 before rebounding due to concerns about subsidies with its carriers, a weakening global economy and its enormous market cap .
“All of this could factor in, create a little volatility in the near term, but look — investors need to take advantage of this,” Smith said. “This stock is easily a $700, $750 stock 12 months from now.”
A smaller Apple tablet would go head to head with the recently unveiled GoogleNexus 7, which features a 7-inch screen and will sell for $199 beginning in July.
Smith emphasized the sales potential in international markets for these smaller-screened products, but acknowledged that a smaller iPad could cannibalize sales of its current larger models. If the company is able to maintain margins similar to the original iPad, Smith said he is not worried about the threat.
—By CNBC.com’s Katie Little
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information was not available for Channing Smith or his company.
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Follow Katie Little on Twitter @katie_little.
