RBC Capital Markets has raised its 2015 and 2016 revenue forecasts for Apple, due to their belief that iPhone 6 demand will continue to beat expectations, and that buyers are tending to chose higher-capacity iPhones, increasing the profit for Apple.
Citing supply chain checks and an RBC survey of over 6,000 people, analyst Amit Daryanani said in a note to investors on Monday that iPhone sales should not only beat earlier June-quarter predictions, but have the potential to stay ahead of forecasts “through 2015 and beyond.”
The new RBC estimates call for for the June quarter call for $49.3 billion in revenue and $1.78 in earnings per share, versus previous targets of $47.3 billion and $1.69.
RBC calls for iPhone shipments in the current quarter to hit 46.5 million, up from their initial target of 42.9 million. Morgan Stanley last week predicted even higher iPhone sales, saying they expected Apple to ship 53 million iPhones for the quarter.
RBC notes the average selling price of the iPhone could rise, as many customers are leaning toward the larger-capacity models. Apple turns a larger profit on its 64GB and 128GB iPhone models, as the amount charged for the extra memory is significantly higher than the actual cost differences.
Apple continues to offer a 16GB base model for its flagship iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets, although many competing smartphone makers have bumped their base memory capacity to 32GB.
RBC now predicts Apple will bring in $233 billion in revenue and $9.07 in earnings per share for fiscal 2015, up from a previous forecast of $231 billion and $8.98. The firm sees fiscal 2016 revenue as $247 billion and $10.08, that is is a predicted 3% bump in iPhone shipments to 236 million takes place. RBC’s price target for Apple stock stays at $150 per share.
