Apple in focus as BofA highlights App Store strength; JP Morgan cuts iPhone estimates

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was in focus on Wednesday as Bank of America highlighted the continued strength in the App Store, while J.P. Morgan lowered its iPhone volume unit estimate for the December quarter.

Shares fell 0.6% in premarket trading.

App Store revenue grew 13.6% year-over-year to $7.8B in the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said, citing SensorTower data. Total downloads for iPhone and iPad rose 5.5% year-over-year to hit 8.9B.

Delving a bit deeper, App Store revenue in September rose 14% year-over-year, including a 6% gain in China. Entertainment apps continued to show strength, as revenue climbed 33% year-over-year, driven largely by YouTube and TikTok, Mohan added.

Gaming revenue increased 6% year-over-year to $3.9B and accounted for 50% of App Store revenue, down from 54% in the year-ago period. In China, gaming revenue rose 0.2% year-over-year, while entertainment revenue rose 21.9% year-over-year.

Gaming is still the largest segment, with Entertainment, Photo and Video, Social Networking and Lifestyle rounding out the top five categories.

Mohan reiterated his Buy rating and $256 price target on Apple.

iPhone worries?

On the other side of the coin is the iPhone 16, which J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said may be experiencing a “slower start.”

Chatterjee lowered his forecast for the December quarter to roughly 76M units, down from a prior outlook of roughly 80M, citing “more muted consumer demand” for the iPhone 16 Pro.

“That said, we still envision the 16 Series to be a solid product cycle on the broader rollout of AI features as we forecast volumes tracking to [roughly] 148M over the next four quarters, which compares favorably to the 15 Series [approximately 139M] and 14 Series [approximately 133M] and is only modestly below the 13 Series [approximately 159M] and 12 Series [approximately 152M],” Chatterjee wrote.

“Importantly, our iPhone volume forecast for the 2025 iPhone Series (e.g., iPhone 17) of [approximately 178M] in the first four quarters of availability remains unchanged and continues to represent the peak of the AI-upgrade cycle.”

Chatterjee has an Overweight rating and $265 price target on Apple.