Overview
- Citing Wednesday's note, Loop Capital moved Apple from Buy to Hold and cut its price target from $370 to $330 after concluding about 13 million second‑half 2026 iPhone shipments are unlikely to be recovered.
- Loop now expects roughly 79 million iPhone shipments in the December quarter versus the roughly 85 million Wall Street estimate and lowered its average selling price forecast for late‑2026 iPhones to $1,123.
- For calendar 2027 the firm raised its unit forecast to 260 million phones but cut expected average selling price and trimmed iPhone revenue from $315 billion to $285 billion while lowering EPS estimates.
- Loop’s revisions reflect two linked forces: Apple’s staggered 2026 launch schedule that moved standard models into 2027 and supply‑chain signals such as component‑order cuts and rising memory costs that can both raise costs and cloud demand readings.
- Investors and analysts remain divided and Loop says the Oct. 23 iPhone Duo shipment and Apple’s fiscal Q4 results on Nov. 6 are key near‑term tests that could clarify whether lost shipments are permanent and how margins will hold up.