Apart from breaking a $500 billion market cap record, Apple has now topped 25 billion app-store downloads, which has Robert Cihra, tech analyst at Evercore partners, very bullish on the stock.
“Apple’s revenue from apps is $200 to $300 million per quarter, which is well below 1 percent of Apple’s revenue," said Cihra. “What’s meaningful is that people are gobbling up billions of apps per quarter, and that’s driving more iPhone and iPod sales.”
Do investors agree? In Monday’s session, Apple’s shares were down nearly 2 percent — albeit still well above the stock’s 200-day moving average.
Cihra is unfazed, and thinks the drop is a short-term blip driven by day traders.
“The stock sold off when Apple launched the initial iPad, but boy if you had bought the stock that day, you’d be happy now,” he said.
The iPad 3 is expected to launch on Wednesday, March 7.
“We’re going to get a refresh of the iPad on Wednesday, but in and of itself, it’s not a reason to own or not own the stock,” he said. “The reason to own the stock is Apple keeps its cadence of refreshing products, and billions of apps are being dowloaded every quarter.”
While Apple’s iPad 3 sales wil be very closely watched, Cihra said the company’s annual sales are the key.
“I’m looking for 50 to 60 million units to sell this calendar year,” he said. “That’s what matters."
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Disclosures:
Robert Cihra does not personally own the stock. Evercore or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Apple within the next three months.
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