Expect Massive Holiday Apple Mac Sales - RBC Capital

RBC Capital is out positive on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) saying they are expecting massive holiday Mac sales. November data from RBC's Technology Adoption Panel (3,900 respondents) point to 'massive Mac momentum' in the holiday quarter (Q1/08 end Dec, reporting Jan).

They expect 2.4M Macs shipped Q1, up 9% Q/Q and 47% Y/Y, breaking the record 2.2M Q4. The firm expects global Mac share to rise to 3.7% in CY08, up from an estimated 3.1% CY07 (US share 9.3% from 7.2%).

On the higher Mac outlook, their F08 estimates become $32.7B revenue ($32.0B prior) and $5.08 EPS ($4.81 prior). F09 outlook increases to $40.4B ($39.3B prior) and $6.19 EPS ($6.02 prior).

Carrier meetings and store visits in UK, France, Germany point to solid European iPhone momentum. Once Apple launches 3G (expected 1H/CY08) and the iPhone in other countries, iPhone sales appear poised for material improvement in demand and momentum.

Reiterates Outperform and ups share price target to $215 from $205.

Notablecalls: That's certainly good news for Apple fans. Will it be enough to push the stock higher in the near term? Yes, why not!

Comments

[MNRTrading]

When Apple adopted the Unix kernel for their OS X, so too did their business plan. As impressive as the Apple run has been, the potential for growth is still in the future.

mnrtrading.blogspot.co.../

[Tom B]

Agreed. I've been a Mac user since 1989. It used to be that Apple just had a better UI and better engineering machines. These days 1) security (thanks to the internet) is a much bigger concern 2) performance is more critical (multimedia leads to more multitasking). UNIX addresses these issues; MS-Windows mostly tries to rely on band aid solutions and FUD-- what else CAN they do? Additionally: Apple offers cutting edge, highly productive dev tools (XCode) for FREE; MSFT offers anemic, outdated dev tools at high cost Visual Studio.

Apple has a stellar future.