LONDON — UBS on Wednesday upgraded Apple stock to a buy rating and raised its price target from $115 to $142 per share.
Apple shares closed Tuesday’s session at $119.90, down 9.64% year to date, with Big Tech having taken the brunt of the market jitters on rising bond yields.
In a new research note, UBS gave three fundamental reasons why investors should snap up the tech giant’s stock, as the Swiss lender upgraded it from a neutral rating.
UBS analysts cited valuation, seasonality and optionality as reasons to buy Apple shares.
They anticipate more stable long-term iPhone demand with better average selling prices, and hope to capture the “real” option value of Apple’s entry into the auto market, which they argued is not reflected in the current share price.
“While our analysis of iPhone procurement and mix drives our FY22 estimates higher and our ‘Core’ value to $128 (from $115), our analysis of the auto market and Apple’s multi-year investment in the industry (self-driving car licenses and LiDAR patents) suggests to us Apple’s auto optionality is worth at least an incremental $14/share,” analysts David Vogt, Munjal Shah and Andrew Spinola said in the note.
“We expect Apple’s platform strategy and market share in the global PC and smartphone markets should enable Apple to introduce a branded BEV [battery electric vehicle] and achieve a minimum 5% market share in the global BEV market.