Investment firm Evercore says it believes Apple is having a better than expected iPhone upgrade cycle, and consequently has raised its stock target price for the second time in September.
Evercore originally hiked up its Apple target price from $250 to $260 on September 9, stating that it was because the iPhone 17 range and especially the iPhone Air would prompt upgraders. Now in a new note to investors seen by AppleInsider, the company has cooled on the iPhone Air, but has raised its target to $290 because of the success of other models.
This success is chiefly based on the firm's latest annual consumer survey. Evercore analysts say that they asked nearly 4,000 consumers in the US about their intentions over buying the new iPhone — and the iPhone Air was the only disappointment.
Fewer than 10% of those surveyed were planning to buy the iPhone Air. Evercore says it believes that is down to skepticism over the battery life and the single camera.
However, 56% of respondents were planning to buy either the iPhone 17 Pro, or the iPhone 17 Pro Max. They were reportedly also tending to choose the higher RAM configurations.
In Evercore's opinion, the strong demand for the Pro models and the iPhone 17 exceeding expectations, was helped by Apple's changed approach. After emphasizing Apple Intelligence for the iPhone 16 range, Apple played down that aspect, and concentrated on new hardware features instead.
Evercore notes that it solely surveyed consumers in the US. However, based particularly on reports from China, it believes the iPhone refresh cycle is proving strong worldwide.
