Apple Receives Upgrade from Raymond James For This Reason

It was this week that Raymond James upgraded iPhone maker Apple on “increased conviction in a 5G iPhone.” Shares were upgraded from “market perform” to “outperform” on Thursday.

Raymond Jmaes said, “Our more recent checks suggest that Apple plans to bring 5G to a wider range of iPhone models, which is different from their plan when they had intended to use Intel’s modem.”

The firm has placed a $250 price target on Apple shares and has said that while their call may be premature it has “increased conviction in the impact of a 5G iPhone product cycle in 2020.”

According to Raymond James, “Apple’s settlement with Qualcomm was a game changer, as it will allow Apple to move ahead using Qualcomm’s modems in the 2020 iPhone.”

“Our call may well be early – we expect this year’s iPhone cycle to be the weakest in years, and today may not be the right time to buy ahead of that weakness, ” analyst Chris Caso noted.

“But since the near-term market moves are being driven by macro conditions as much as fundamentals, we’ve decided to upgrade now and let our clients decide the best time to execute on our idea,” he said.

Apple is expected to report its third-quarter earnings after the bell on July 30th.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and have not been compensated for this article.