Apple To Sell 40 Million iPhones In June, According To Search Engine Analytics

Courtesy of Benzinga.

The AlphaWise Tracker data indicate Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will have shipped 40 million iPhone units in the June quarter, in line with the consensus.

Morgan Stanley’s Katy L. Huberty maintains an Overweight rating on the company, with a price target of $120.

What Data Suggest

Huberty mentioned the supply side data were also roughly in line with the consensus expectations for C2H16.

“We believe consensus expects about 120 million iPhone shipments in C2H16, while we are slightly lower at 116 million,” the analyst said.

Morgan Stanley’s estimate for the September quarter is for 47 million iPhone builds, with early expectations of a slight year-on-year decline in the December quarter, from the 72 million last year.

Related Link: Apple’s Latest Smartphone Competition: Google Phone?

“Apple has not missed its gross margin guidance range to the downside in any of the last 11 quarters, or since management initiated current guidance methodology,” Huberty pointed out.

Higher iPhone SE Demand

However, investors have been concerned regarding the better-than-expected demand for the iPhone SE during the June quarter.

The analyst pointed out that there still are several days of wait time on the Apple website for certain iPhone models, which is consistent with management commentary that the company would be unable to achieve supply/demand balance in the June quarter.

Huberty believes iPhone SE has gross margin of about 40 percent, which is lower than that for the other iPhone models but higher than the guidance.

Due to the increasing SE mix, the September quarter margin estimate has been decreased 80bps, bring the FY16 EPS estimate down to $8.20.

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