Toni Sacconaghi Watching Apple TV+
28 JUNE 2022 - What do Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi and I have in common? About the biggest thing is we both know how to spell his name, but it turns out there’s something else: We’re both intrigued by Apple TV+.
Barron’s ran a piece Monday highlighting a note from the analyst. That had Sacconaghi laying out some data with no obvious source. For example, the piece had Sacconaghi estimating that the Cupertino-streamer “has between 20 million and 40 million paying subscribers, generating between $1 billion and $2 billion of annual revenue.”
How can we call between 20 million and 40 million “data”? Whatever the case, the amount of money Apple TV+ is pulling in is small potatoes compared to the amount of money Apple makes overall - in fact, he figures Apple is currently losing between a-billion and two-billion dollars a year on the service.
But he does not seem to see that as a waste. Sacconaghi thinks Apple has a couple of plans for Apple TV+. The first is to make money, something he indicates it could do by adding more sports, while the second is to beef-up its overall ecosystem. According to Barron’s, “Sacconaghi thinks the service is particularly interesting as a potential valuable piece in bundled hardware or services offerings.” For now though, the analyst says the Apple TV+ “focus is clearly on quality over quantity, consistent with Apple’s brand…”
Sacchonaghi has a “Market Perform” rating on Apple shares. His price target on the shares is $170.
