Apple surges as iPhone results seen as 'impressive,' Wall Street mixed on forecast
Jozsef Zoltan Varga
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares surged on Friday, gaining more than 5%, after it reported fiscal second-quarter results that received praise for the iPhone results. However, the tech giant's outlook for the June quarter received a varied response.
Barclays analyst Tim Long, who has an equal-weight rating on Apple (AAPL), noted that the growth rate for the coming quarter is "well below" Wall Street's forecast and in-line with his own estimate. 
"We continue to see demand weakness across hardware categories echoed by downbeat commentary across supply chains - Foxconn, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Qualcomm (QCOM)," Long wrote in an investor note. "Our initial supply chain checks suggest flat [iPhone 15] production plan for [second-half] compared to [iPhone 14], with lower than expected pro mix." 
Long added that the overall tone from Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri was "guarded" given the macro uncertainty, pointing out weakness in Macs and iPads, as well as advertising and gaming.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who has an outperform rating on Apple (AAPL), noted that the outlook was "relatively upbeat," which should give Wall Street "further confidence that Cupertino is riding out this macro storm in Rock of Gibraltar-like fashion."
"Overall, Cook talked about a stable consumer demand environment with particular strength in emerging markets as Apple continues to aggressively bet on a number of key markets with India front and center," Ives wrote in a note.
Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng, who has a buy rating, lauded the "better-than-expected" iPhone sales during the period, but noted that since the company is largely tied to consumers, it has some risks in a weakening economy.
"Apple generated over 50% of its revenue from iPhones [in fiscal 2022], which is highly dependent on purchases driven by upgrades," Ng wrote in an investor note. "Lengthening replacement cycles due to macroeconomic headwinds, improved product durability, or lackluster product innovation could all negatively impact upgrade demand."
Seeking Alpha Investing Groups Leader Jonathan Weber said the results were not "good enough," citing the stock's valuation.
Looking to the June quarter, CFO Maestri said Apple's (AAPL) results should be similar to the March quarter, with foreign exchange a headwind of roughly 4 percentage points.
Services revenue is expected to be similar to the March quarter, with mobile gaming and advertising seeing some weakness. Gross margins are expected to be between 44% and 45%, while operating expenses are forecast to be between $13.6B and $13.8B.
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