Sterne Agee, Canaccord raise estimates ahead of Apple Q2

01200updated 02:25 pm EDT, Fri April 20, 2012 iPhone, iPad seen as strong, Mac 'light'

Two more analysts have raised forecasts for Apple ahead of the company's Q2 results, due to be announced April 24th. Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu says that based on "supply chain checks," he's expecting "a sizeable EPS (earnings per share) beat based on iPhone and iPad strength despite Macs likely coming in a little light." The problem with Macs is said to be linked to a "drawdown in inventory on some models indicating there could be a pending product refresh," plus "minor" sales cannibalization from the iPad.For the March quarter Wu is actually holding his iPad estimate at 12.3 million units, but raising his iPhone numbers from 28.2 million units to 29.5 million. Macs have been scaled down to 4.3 million units from 4.7 million. Gross margin has been tweaked upward from 43.2 to 43.5 percent, based on "favorable mix shift towards iPhone." Revenue and EPS targets have been adjusted from $36.4 billion and $10 to $36.8 billion and $10.20. Looking ahead to the June quarter, Wu is predicting $37.6 billion in revenue with $10.08 in EPS. The analyst is holding to a $750 stock target.

Canaccord Genuity's Michael Walkley has meanwhile raised his stock target from $710 to $740. "Based on strong global iPhone sales and the successful launch of the new iPad, we believe Apple will post strong Q2/F2012 results," he writes. "We maintain our belief Apple is well positioned for strong sales and earnings growth driven by new product introductions across its portfolio."

In contrast with Wu though, he suggests that "recent channel checks indicated iPhone sell-through share has modestly declined in certain developed markets, and we expect this could continue as Android competitors ramp new smartphones during the June and September quarters and consumers start to hold off iPhone purchases in anticipation of the iPhone 5. Nevertheless he adds that any loss in smartphone market share during the June quarter will probably "prove temporary," compensated for by "very strong demand for an LTE iPhone 5 during the December quarter and a potential TD-SCDMA/TD LTE

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