Apple slips even as KeyBanc raises estimates on strong iPhone 14 Pro sales
Seremin

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares slipped on Tuesday even as KeyBanc raised its estimates for the company's iPhone line, noting strong sales of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Analyst Brandon Nispel raised his revenue and adjusted EBITDA estimates to $90.4B and $30.4B, respectively, as the investment firm's data showed an 11% increase in month-over-month spending in September, compared to a flat three-year average. Quarter-over-quarter data was strong too, as it came in at 28% growth sequentially, compared to the three-year average of 24%.
"We believe [fourth-quarter] benefited from an additional week of iPhone sales, and a mix shift toward higher priced devices (Pro/Pro Max) and iPhone 14 Plus ($899) replacing the iPhone 13 Mini ($699) in the lineup," Nispel wrote in a note to clients.
Nispel has an overweight rating and a $185 per-share price target on Apple (AAPL).
Apple (AAPL) shares slipped more than 0.5% to $139.54 in premarket trading.
Nispel added that Apple's (AAPL) hardware revenue in the fourth-quarter has historically been 10% growth over the past three years, but consensus estimate of just 8% growth suggests Wall Street is expecting lower growth than the historical average.
Separately on Tuesday, Reuters reported that India's government will attempt to coerce Apple (AAPL), Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) and other smartphone manufacturers to prioritize rolling out 5G software support in the country.
India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G services on October 1 and some of the country's telecoms, including Reliance and Bharti Airtel have already made the service available in several cities, with further expansion next year.
None of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone models, nor many of Samsung's (OTCPK:SSNLF) smartphones, support 5G services in India, however, the news outlet reported, citing three industry sources and Airtel's website.
On Monday, research firm IDC said Apple (AAPL) was the only PC vendor to see positive year-over-year growth in the third-quarter, as the world's largest tech company was able to benefit from pent-up demand.