Wedbush Names Apple a Top-Stock to Own for Remainder of 2022

10 AUGUST 2022 - Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives is still high on Apple. On Tuesday, Apple 3.0 ran part of a note he wrote. In it, he predicted tough times for smaller tech firms - though tech as an idea (the “4th Industrial Revolution” he calls it) will power through. His top-three tech stocks for at least the remainder of the year: Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, and Apple. On the Cupertino-company specifically, Mr. Ives wrote:

AAPL: With China issues and supply chain as a “peak issue” in the rear view mirror for now, Cook & Co. laser focus their sights on the iPhone 14 production/demand cycle for the September launch of this next key iPhone model. We estimate roughly 225 million Apple customers have not upgraded their iPhones in 3.5 years, creating a strong pent-up demand story with iPhone 14 despite the darkening global macro backdrop. We maintain our OUTPERFORM rating and $200 price target.

If that sounds familiar, that’s not surprising. Apple 3.0’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt points out that Ives has been saying the “hundreds of millions of iPhones not upgraded” thing for quite a while now. Elmer-DeWitt figures Ives will keep saying it, as long as there are iPhones worth the upgrade.

Well - if you’re holding your phone from three-and-a-half-years… I mean, even if iPhone after iPhone after iPhone is deemed “evolutionary not revolutionary,” evolution four phones from now would likely feel like a revolution.