Apple iPhone 15 Launch Fails to Excite Investors. What Wall Street Is Saying.

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The long-awaited launch of the iPhone 15 has disappointed investors, and Wall Street doesn’t seem happy either.

The world’s most valuable company unveiled its new iPhone models on Tuesday, and things went as expected. One surprise though was the absence of a price hike for the iPhone Pro, which was largely expected by analysts.

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The starting price for the Pro Max has gone up by 100.

Shares of Apple (ticker: AAPL ), which fell 1.7% to $176.30 on Tuesday, have risen an average of 5% in the three months since the release of the iPhone. In premarket trading on Wednesday,

Apple

It fell 0.4% to $176.66.

DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte doesn’t see it happening this time. “Unlike in past years, we believe the company will no longer be able to rely on strong iPhone sales to drive up its stock price,” he said in a note Wednesday.

Forte said that despite the iPhone 15 release date of September 22, management is guiding to reduce revenue in the September quarter. He also cited a “potential lack of sales” in China. He reiterated a neutral rating and a $180 price target on the stock.

KeyBanc analysts led by Jon Vinh also viewed the stock’s launch as “slightly negative” but maintained an overweight rating and a $200 price target.

“The September event is somewhat negative

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“With the lack of price increases expected for the Pro model, features that don’t have a compelling incentive to upgrade consumers, and mildly less aggressive promotions from carriers,” he said.

Analysts at Evercore ISI viewed the event as “moderately disappointing,” and said the price hike for the Pro would help offset the impact of Huawei’s recently launched new smartphone.

Investors typically go into this event with relatively low expectations because we’ve been waiting a long time to see a major change in iPhone design or functionality, but investors were hoping to see the Pro cost $100, which will happen. It helped offset any headwinds from Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro launch, he said. They still have an Outperform rating on the stock with a price target of $210.

Not everyone saw the launch event in a negative light. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the lack of a price increase for the iPhone 15 Pro is surprising, but the move to the Pro Max is “a smart strategic move.”

A higher proportion of consumers are expected to move from the base model to the Pro models, compared to 60 to 40 percent seen in recent years. Price.

“While we believe the strong consumer product cycle will continue globally for Cook & Co., the iPhone 15 is an additional boost for Apple heading into the all-important holiday season,” Ives said. He maintained an outperform rating on the stock with a $230 price target.

Write to Callum Keown at [email protected]