Apple stock upside could be limited from here on out, one analyst believes, so one analyst downgraded his rating on it, marking the second such downgrade for the iPhone maker already this month. He warned that even a strong iPhone 8 cycle won’t be enough to attract a significant number of new users to the Apple ecosystem. Meanwhile, another analyst weighed in on the debate over iPhone weakness in China and suggested that it is merely a sign of pent-up demand.

 

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The only question now is whether the pent-up demand in China will be enough to compensate for the lack of people switching to an iPhone from other brands.

Apple stock upside is limited for now

In a note dated June 11, Mizuho Securities analyst Abhey Lamba downgraded Apple from Buy to Neutral and cut his price target from $160 to $150 per share. He feels that Apple stock upside is now limited despite the potential for a very strong iPhone 8 cycle. He noted that the stock has “meaningfully outperformed” year to date, and he feels that the “enthusiasm” about the iPhone 8 cycle was already fully accounted for in the valuation.

As a result, he sees Apple stock upside as being limited from here, although the shares plunged another 3.56% to $143.68 on Monday after tumbling from about $155 on Friday to land in the $140 range. Apple is part of the hot new analyst acronym FAAMG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google/Alphabet), and there’s an ongoing debate about whether tech stocks in general have much further upside in the near term.

Investors appear to see the tech rally as spent because other tech names have also tumbled over the last couple of trading days.

iPhone 8 cycle still expected to be strong

Lamba still expects the iPhone 8 cycle to be strong and probably drive a strong holiday season that stretches into early next year. However, he feels that investors have already fully anticipated this strength, and thus he thinks that Apple stock upside is limited. He also cautioned investors about consensus estimates for fiscal 2018 because of the potential for tough comparisons and also growth that’s being driven mainly by replacements rather than by new customers, which he explains caps the expansion of the installed base.

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