Apple’s innovative features in the new iPhone X this year will pay dividends for years, according to one Wall Street firm.
Piper Jaffray reiterated its overweight rating for the smartphone maker, predicting Apple will benefit from rolling out better displays and 3D sensors to the rest of its iPhone product line next year.
“Apple may be increasingly well positioned to experience a strong multi-year iPhone trajectory, not the short-lived ‘super cycle’ that was anticipated,” analyst Michael Olson wrote in a note to clients Thursday titled “Why AAPL Can Keep Working: ‘Super Cycle’ Is Now ‘Super Long Cycle.'” “We believe an elongated iPhone cycle in FY18, followed by a wider array of iPhone X ‘offspring’ in Fall-18, along with growing awareness and interest in augmented reality (fueled by developers populating app store with new use cases and, longer-term, addition of rear facing 3D sensor), will all push out the need for Apple to answer the question of ‘what’s next?'”
Olson reiterated his $200 price target for Apple shares, representing 18 percent upside to Wednesday’s close.
The analyst expects Apple will release three iPhones next year with the X’s better OLED displays. In addition, he notes 3D sensing component suppliers are being asked to increase their volume by three times next year, according to the firm’s checks.
“IPhone X ‘offspring’ can expand upgrade interest to a larger portion of iPhone Users in Fall-18,” he wrote. “As options for the ‘X’ generation iPhone expand, the ‘shots on goal’ for upgrading increases.”
Apple is one of the market’s best-performing large-cap stocks so far this year. Its shares have rallied 46 percent through Wednesday versus the S&P 500’s 17 percent gain.
The company’s stock rose 0.8 percent Thursday after the report.
Apple’s iPhone X launched on Nov. 3 at a base model price of $999.
Buy Apple because iPhone X will lead to a ‘super long cycle’ for the company, analyst says