Cook Fumbles The Ball At GlowTime Event, Analysts Remain Unfazed with Upgraded Price Targets...

In a grand spectacle that came out as average as you’d expect from a company with stagnant iPhone sales since 2021, Apple somewhat missed its main assignment: Get investors throbbing with excitement. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, the highly-anticipated launch of the AI-powered iPhone 16 has sent Apple’s stock on a pearl-clutching dip, as Apple shares were down a piss poor -1.46% by yesterday's close. This pretty much signified that all those “oohs” and “aahs” over the iPhone 16's new features seemingly couldn’t keep the stock from taking a dive, contributing to a -1.84% decline over the last five days. Oof…

(Source: Seeking Alpha) 

As you can imagine, this reaction was pretty much the exact opposite of what most Apple enthusiasts expected as Tim Cook's rainbow party “GlowTime Event" unveiled Apple’s first foray into consumer-facing artificial intelligence. CEO Tim Cook, channeling his inner hype man, proudly declared the iPhone 16 as “designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up.”

(Source: Giphy) 

However, despite Cook's waxing poetry about Apple's new AI features, the mass majority of the market yawned on the stock - while most of the optimism was felt in the rest of the S&P 500 index as that baby soared north of +1% on the day. 

(Source: Prism) 

Yet, even though Apple investors likely drowned out their misery after yesterday's close, analysts have arisen to sprinkle a little bit of fairy dust on the gloomy results. For instance, Morgan Stanley’s financial wizards basically reminded us all that Apple’s stock typically has the emotional resilience of the Dallas Cowboys fanbase (this year is our year, only to be disappointed). They predict growth will come like a slow-moving train—which, let’s be honest, is sometimes how fast tech innovation feels. 

(Source: Investopedia) 

Additionally, Dan Ives of Wedbush, the eternal optimist, cranked up his price target for Apple to a sparkling $300 from a mere $285. He’s convinced that this AI-driven upgrade cycle is the beginning of a “supercycle" as three hundred million iPhones worldwide haven’t been upgraded in over four years. Which is quite the stat, I must say.

(Source: The Street) 

“In our view, Apple could sell north of 240 million iPhone units in FY25,” Ives confidently stated, as if he were betting on a horse race rather than a tech product. On the other hand, Gene Munster from Deepwater Asset Management sees the launch of Apple Intelligence as the dawn of a “paradigm shift.” He’s convinced that Apple will introduce a tiered pricing model for AI features, perhaps even a premium version of OpenAI—because why not charge more for something that sounds fancy? 

(Source: Giphy) 

But here’s the deal though, all the optimism is fine and dandy, but you can’t ignore the facts that Apple has been dealt with recently. For example, Apple just reported a 1% year-over-year decline in iPhone revenue, with sales in China dropping - all while losing a $14.4 billion tax battle with the EU. 

(Source: IBD)

And considering Apple’s iPhone sales have pretty much flatlined around 200k units since September of 2021, it’s clear that growth is the main hurdle the company is facing. Which again, is why the much anticipated Apple event was even more of a disappointment. This was supposed to be the main catalyst that ignited a fire in the iPhone sales department with its new addition of AI features - however, given that Cook & Co. didn’t exactly blow investors' socks off… the outlook looks bleak.

(Source: Stocktwits - Finchat.io) 

With that said though, given these hurdles (and as mentioned above), Wall Street still remains bullish on the most valuable company in the world with eleven out of sixteen analysts maintaining a Buy rating. Their average price target of just over $244 is like a comforting warm blanket on a chilly evening, reflecting a 10% premium over last Friday's closing price. Meaning, if you’re looking for a silver lining, I guess that it's folks. 

In the end, as we sift through this post-launch dust, investors and analysts alike will be watching for the promised AI revolution in consumer technology like hawks. While the immediate market reaction might feel a bit like a flat soda, many are convinced that Apple’s long-term prospects remain as vibrant as ever, with hopes pinned on its vast installed base and the potential of Apple Intelligence.

(Source: Giphy) 

But even with that, only time will be the ultimate teller. Of course, in no way shape or form am I saying that Apple investors should be in panic mode. All I’m saying is that the reality is, Apple failed to ignite a frenzy that many expected - so just be cautioned as we continue towards 2025. 

At the time of this writing, Apple is down -0.77% on the day. 

P.S. While traders and investors are glued to Apple's forward outlook, our last Stocks.News alert shot up 162% in under 24 hours. And hold onto your hats: we’re about to release another explosive alert—click here for the details.

Stocks.News holds positions in Apple as mentioned in the article.