Analyst: Don’t Fear These iPhone Numbers

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek is sticking to his above-consensus estimate of 26 million iPhones sold in Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) fourth quarter and expects that the company’s “typically conservative guidance [for the current quarter] will be more in line with consensus than feared.”

Misek, who has a $900 price target on the company’s stock, also estimated that Apple was producing and selling about 500,000 iPhone 5 handsets a day. The analyst is also positive about the estimates for the iPad Mini, which is expected to launch on October 23 after Apple sent out invites for an event on Tuesday.

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“Our survey of the 31 countries … indicates broad sellouts with three- to four-week delivery times for new orders across the board,” Misek wrote in his note to clients. “Stock price and press reaction [are] following typical post-iPhone launch script. Sixty days after the launches for the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, Apple’s stock price fell 8 percent vs. less than 10 percent 30 days after the iPhone 5 launch. But 90 days after the launch of the iPhone 4 and 4S, Apple’s stock price recovered 17 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Also, the press coverage regarding the bumpy transition to the Apple Maps App and the scratches on the case similarly follows the iPhone 4 antenna-gate and the iPhone 4S battery and Siri issues. Despite these concerns, the 4 and 4S were huge successes, and we expect the same for the 5.”

The analyst added that his checks led him to believe that Apple had entered into a major partnership for the A7 processor with Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM), with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) possibly acting as an eventual foundry supplier.

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