Apple gains even as Evercore remains cautious on App Store growth
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose on Thursday even as investment firm Evercore pointed out that growth in App Store revenue is still "muted" and the company will need "new drivers" for its services business to boost growth.




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Analyst Amit Daryanani, who rates Apple (AAPL) shares outperform with a per-share price target of $210, noted that App Store revenue grew just 4% in May, citing third-party data, compared to the 9% growth seen in April, below the firm's expectations as comparisons should start to get easier.
"We had expected growth to accelerate as comps became easier, so the slowdown is somewhat surprising, especially as China saw a large deceleration when we were anticipating some uplift from the ongoing lockdowns," Daryanani wrote in a note to clients.
Apple (AAPL) shares gained slightly more than 1% to $150.37 in late-day trading on Thursday.
China, Japan and the U.S. account for roughly 75% of global App Store revenue. Of that, gaming is one of the largest drivers, along with entertainment, music and several other categories. 
In addition, Daryanani noted that while the App Store remains the largest part of Apple's (AAPL) Services business, it is less important to Services growth, highlighting other opportunities, including advertising, and subscriptions.
Cupertino, California-based Apple (AAPL) ended its most recent quarter with 825M subscriptions, according to Chief Financial Officer Lucas Maestri.
Last month, it was reported that Apple (AAPL) may be looking to restructure its Services business to boost its advertising and streaming businesses.
Wedbush Securities recently said Apple (AAPL) is likely to be one of the main beneficiaries as supply chain issues in Asia have started to improve.