Apple iPhone 14 demand is strengthening as Pro lead times continue to expand: Evercore
Seremin

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent days, as Bank of America downgraded the tech giant earlier this week over iPhone demand concerns and a media report indicated the company had foregone a production boost of the popular smartphone.
However, investment firm Evercore said that the lead times for iPhone 14's Pro models are actually expanding, indicating strong demand.
Analyst Amit Daryanani noted the lead times for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models have increased for all tracked geographies - excluding Japan - between one and six days, indicative of strong demand and flying in the face of recent concerns around a slowdown in demand.
"Our assessment remains â that while units will be stable to slightly up, the real story here is [average selling prices] will be up high single digits in [second-half], enabling upside to not just the September quarter, but likely [the] December quarter," Daryanani, who has a buy rating on Apple (AAPL), wrote in the research report.
Breaking it down, Daryanani noted that lead times for the iPhone 14 Pro Max are the "low 30s day zone" while iPhone 14 Pro lead times are in the "low to high 20s day range." For the U.S. Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are seeing lead times of 25 days and 32 days, respectively. 
China, Apple's (AAPL) other major market, is seeing lead times of 29 days and 36 times, respectively. In addition, the analyst noted that the lower-end iPhone 14 models are also seeing "materially higher" lead times in China, compared to other geographies.
Conversely, the lead times for Japan is at 28 days.
Daryanani noted that on a broader level, demand for the lower-end iPhone 14 models are lower when compared to the higher-end devices, but they have improved, now between three and five days. 
Apple (AAPL) shares fell nearly 1.5% to $140.46 in late trading on Friday.
On Thursday, investment firm Rosenblatt upgraded Apple (AAPL), citing "substantial interest" in the company's new iPhone 14 Pro Max and Apple Watch Ultra.