BUY, SELL, HOLD (2)

J.P. Morgan Securities Bullish on iPhone Volume

The brokerage firm set a $265 price target on AAPL

Managing Editor
Sep 30, 2019 at 9:51 AM
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Last week, analysts were bullish on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) because of the potential impact of 5G capabilities. Today, it's iPhones, after J.P. Morgan Securities set a December 2020 price target of $265, and a December 2019 goal of $243. The analyst in coverage also upped its iPhone volume forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020.

The generous bull note has Apple stock up 1.3% to trade at $221.74 this morning. The shares spent most of the month consolidating below the $225 level, with their 20-day moving average cushioning any pullbacks. And while AAPL is still staring up at its year-over-year breakeven level, it's worth remembering that the security has gained 56% since its Jan. 3 annual low of $142.

The price target today is lofty compared to the rest of the analyst community, and signals that more could keep AAPL trending higher. The equity's consensus 12-month price target of $227.47 was just a slim 3.1% premium to Friday's closing perch of $218.82. Plus, 11 brokerages still rate Apple a tepid "hold."

AAPL options premiums are pricing attractively priced at the moment, from a volatility standpoint. Specifically, the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 24% ranks in the 22 percentile of its 12-month range, meaning near-term options have priced in lower volatility expectations just 22% of the time in the past year.

Plus, the Dow stock sports a Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 95 (out of a possible 100). This means the security has consistently made bigger moves on the charts than its options premiums have priced in over the past year.

 

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