Apple drops even as UBS sees evidence of improving iPhone 14 Pro wait times
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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell nearly 2% to $143.86 in mid-day trading on Tuesday even as investment firm UBS said it had seen evidence of improving wait times for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max in 30 countries, suggesting that the supply chain headwinds the tech giant dealt with are starting to ease up.
Analyst David Vogt, who has a buy rating and a $180 price target on Apple (AAPL), noted that wait times in the U.S. for both high-end iPhone 14 models are now down to roughly 25 days, down from 38 days two weeks ago. In China, wait times have declined, albeit less drastic, to 36 days, down from 39 days last week and two weeks ago.
Vogt added that if the trend continues to improve at the same rate, it may be possible for U.S. customers to get an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max by Christmas.
"While the trend is a welcome respite, we believe the market is likely to view the December and March quarters in aggregate relative to last year to gauge underlying demand," Vogt wrote in a note to clients.
The analyst added that iPhone demand has been "largely durable" and there is just a "limited" number of consumers who are willing to leave the Apple (AAPL) ecosystem. He now expects 144M iPhones to be sold in the next two quarters, which would be flat, in line with the prior year's results.
In early November, Apple (AAPL) warned that supply chain issues in China resulting from the country's strict COVID-19 policies would result in lower iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max shipments than previously estimated.
On Monday, it was reported that Apple (AAPL) was discussing moving some production of its popular iPad tablet to India in an effort to continue diversifying away from China.