Apple (AAPL) will host its annual September product event this Monday, with things set to kick off at 1:00 pm Eastern time. The "Glowtime" event is expected to bring several major announcements from the tech giant, including the highly anticipated reveal of the iPhone 16 series.
For this year's event, technology information website Tom's Guide is watching for a long list of announcements. In addition to news on the iPhone 16, it is also anticipating the unveiling of the Apple Watch Series 10 and any updates to the company's Apple Intelligence generative artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.
Technology blog TechRadar has similar expectations. Included in the things it is looking for are design changes, smart software tools and features for the new devices that are announced.
You can livestream the Apple event on Apple's YouTube channel, on Apple.com and on the Apple TV app.
Wall Street says Apple's a Buy ahead of the event
Apple had a highly publicized rough start to 2024, but shares bottomed in mid-April and are now up 18% for the year to date on a total return basis (price change plus dividends. This positive price action is just more of the same for AAPL, which boasts an impressive 20-year return.
Unsurprisingly, Wall Street is overwhelmingly bullish toward the Dow Jones stock. Of the 46 analysts covering Apple tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 25 say it's a Strong Buy, seven have it at Buy, 12 call it a Hold and two rate it a Sell. This works out to a consensus Buy recommendation and with high conviction.
Additionally, the average analyst target price for AAPL stock is $237.63, representing implied upside of over 7% to current levels.
Speaking for the bulls is financial services firm Wedbush, which has a Buy rating and $285 price target on the blue chip stock.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes the September Apple event "will kick off Cupertino's biggest upgrade cycle in its history with AI now on the doorstep." Ives adds that recent checks across the Asia supply chain indicate "that this iPhone upgrade cycle could be a historical one, setting the stage for a supercycle."
He estimates that around 300 million iPhones globally are overdue for an upgrade. "In our view, Apple could sell north of 240 million iPhone units in fiscal 2025 as this AI-driven upgrade cycle takes hold."
