The company's stock was trading above $136 a share, up more than 3% on Thursday morning amid broader market gains.Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note Thursday that they expect a record December quarter.
The firm pointed to strength across Apple's product and services portfolio, driven by 5G adoption, continued remote work and learning and sustained App Store engagement. Analysts added they expect double-digit annual growth for Apple's five revenue segments in the December quarter. "As we have stated previously, we believe Apple's first lineup of smartphones on 5G networks are better positioned than investors completely appreciate for the following reasons: 1) carrier support, 2) favorable discretionary income, and 3) 1B working remotely and 1B learning remotely. Further, we attribute the recent strength in shares to investors warming up to this notion," DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte wrote.
"We project sales to increase 15.7% to $106,236M, which is above the consensus forecast of $102,563M," the firm said. "Note, Apple did not give formal guidance, but it did expect double-digit growth for all product categories expect iPhone, which it expects single-digit growth. On profitability, we estimate $33,525M of EBITDA , which is above the consensus figure of $31,763M. Lastly, we project GAAP EPS of $1.52, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40.