Apple (AAPL) shares hit an all-time high Monday, valuing the tech giant at more than $2.9 trillion, ahead of its highly anticipated software developer's conference later today and the expected launch of its first virtual reality headset.
Apple's annual World Wide Developers Conference is slated to begin with a keynote address from Chief Executive Tim Cook at 1:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time at the tech giant's Apple Park campus in Cupertino, Calif. It will formally launch a series of operating system updates, new Mac products while unveiling a new AR/VR Reality Pro headset -- called 'Apple Vision Pro' -- expected to cost around $3,000.
WATCH THE WWDC23 KEYNOTE LIVE ON THE STREET AT 1PM ET
The new headset follows last week's launch of the Quest 4 model announced by Meta Platforms (META), which will be priced at around $500.
"We expect WWDC to be another "flex the muscles moment" for Cupertino heading into a robust product cycle into the next 6-9 months led by the anniversary iPhone 15 launch this Fall into its golden installed base," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. He carries an outperform rating and $205 price target on Apple stock.
"The brains behind Reality Pro will be powered by Apple's industry leading M2 chips and another core advantage for the stalwart further building its iconic iPhone driven device family with this latest product," he added. "We believe initial shipments given the high price points are expected to be roughly 150k units for Year 1 based on recent Asia supply chain checks."
Apple shares were marked 0.5% higher in early afternoon trading Monday to change hands at $181.88 each, a move that would extend the stock's year-to-date gain to around 40% and value the tech giant around $2.9 trillion. The stock hit an all-time high of $184.95 earlier in the session.
Headset Might Be 'Best in Market': CFRA Analyst
"We expect the new headset to be the best in market and while it won't be cheap, it will be Apple's flagship device that could lead to potentially more mainstream options over time," said CFRA research analyst Angelo Zino. "The new device will be powered by Apple's internal M silicon chips, have a gesture-based control, 4k micro-OLED display, an external battery pack, and over a dozen cameras."
Apple topped Wall Street forecasts for its March-quarter earnings, published on April 29, thanks in part to a surprise 1.5% gain in iPhone revenue and record sales from a host of emerging markets, adding that its current quarter sales would slip only modestly from the year-earlier level.
iPhone revenue was $51.33 billion, linked in part to the sale of high-end iPhone Pro models that were jammed up over the holiday period. The figure offset declines in Mac and iPad sales and helped boost earnings for the three months ended in March to $1.52 a share. That tally that topped Wall Street forecasts by 9 cents.
Group revenue was still down 2.5% a year earlier at $94.84 billion, marking the second consecutive sequential decline, a rate Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said would likely carry over into the June quarter. But the CFO also noted that gross margins would likely improve to between 44% and 44.5%.
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