Apple's earnings exceeded expectations, but investors were still left wanting more. Here's how analysts reacted

CNBC

02-05-2025

Apple posted quarterly results that exceeded analyst expectations, but said that its forward outlook remains murky due to existing tariff headwinds. Nonetheless, most analysts remain bullish on the iPhone maker. On Thursday, Apple reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.65 per share on revenue of $95.4 billion. This beat prior analyst estimates of $1.63 per share on $94.66 billion in revenue, per LSEG. But investors were left feeling somewhat unsatisfied after Apple's services revenue of $26.65 billion for the quarter came in below the expected $26.70 billion, according to StreetAccount. This number still represented an annual increase of 11.65%. Apple's Services division includes subscriptions to applications such as iCloud, Apple Music and Apple TV+. CEO Tim Cook said that the company saw "limited impact" from tariffs in its March quarter because of supply chain optimization, but estimated that tariffs would add $900 million in costs for the current quarter. However, he added that he remained "confident" looking ahead. Shares of Apple fell nearly 3% in Friday's early morning trading hours. But overall, analysts on Wall Street maintained their bullish stance on Apple, although a few reduced their forward forecasts. Here's what analysts at some of the biggest shops on Wall Street had to say on the report. Barclays keeps underweight rating, $173 per share price target Analyst Tim Long's target implies about 19% downside from Thursday's close. "On a high level, we expect limited refresh activity near term related to Apple Intelligence due to Siri delay. Overall, we are still worried about China, regulatory risk for Services (GOOG TAC and App Store), undefined AI strategy and muted sell-throughs for IP16." UBS reiterates neutral rating, $210 per share price target UBS' forecast corresponds to a nearly 2% slide in valuation. "We make minor adjustments to our full year Apple estimates as we think upside in the March quarter from the 'pull-forward' of iPhone shipments ahead of the proposed tariffs likely reduces units in the second half of fiscal 2025." Morgan Stanley maintains overweight rating, $235 per share price target Morgan Stanley's target calls for 10% upside going forward. "The fact that Apple only faces $900M of tariff costs in the June Q, despite being over-indexed to China, shows SE Asia production diversification is working. That said, mgmt wasn't able to provide any segment-level guidance for the June Q (not even Services, which they effectively always do), couldn't commit to how much Product would come from India/Vietnam in the September quarter and beyond (leaving the tariff cost impact open-ended), didn't address pricing or other tariff mitigation tools, and didn't provide an updated timeline for the new Siri introduction." Bank of America stands by overweight rating but lowers price target to $235 from $240 "We take a relatively cautious view into gross margins for the remainder of the calendar year and model further deterioration beyond the June qtr. The company raised its dividend, boosted share repurchase authorization and remains confident on its ability to manage the portfolio through near-term volatility. Reiterate Buy on stable cash flows, earnings resiliency and strong capital return program." JPMorgan keeps overweight rating, cuts price target to $240 per share from $245 Analyst Samik Chatterjee's forecast is 13% above Apple's Thursday closing price. "Apple's results showcased the resilience that investors have come to expect as the outcomes outlined by the company in relation to F3Q (June-end) guidance was better than feared by investors in the context of a challenging macro and tariff uncertainty." Citi reiterates buy rating, reduces price target to $240 from $245 "Net-net, Apple's fundamentals remain intact, and the company delivered decent results/guide in a tough tariff environment." Evercore ISI reiterates outperform rating, $250 per share target price Analyst Amit Daryanani's price target was approximately 17% higher than Apple's closing price on Thursday. "AAPL continues to execute well in a challenging macro environment and while we think there remains uncertainty in H2 the potential is for AAPL to start to see tailwinds from an iPhone 17 cycle coupled with potentially better clarity on the tariff situation." Goldman Sachs stands by buy rating, $253 per share price target Goldman Sachs' target equates to 19% upside. "EPS beat on Services strength; lowering estimates on product margin tariff headwinds." — CNBC's Michael Bloom and Kif Leswing contributed to this report.