Raymond James has resumed coverage of Apple (AAPL) with a Market Perform rating, which is a downgrade from the Outperform rating the firm had before suspending coverage.
Apple shares had inched up 0.5% during pre-market trading on Friday.
The financial firm did not assign a target price but noted that Apple already has a high valuation, as the stock is trading at about 31 times its fiscal 2027 GAAP earnings per share.
“Despite strong fundamentals and improving product cycles, we believe Apple’s current valuation appropriately reflects these strengths, limiting near-term upside,” said Raymond James analyst Melissa Fairbanks in an investor note. “While we acknowledge the company’s leadership in consumer hardware, ecosystem, and services, with a highly sticky value proposition, we believe much of this value is already well understood by investors.”
Raymond James projects iPhone shipments to increase by 3% during calendar year 2026 and another 3% during 2027. It expects revenue to increase by 8% during fiscal 2026 and by 7% during fiscal 2027. It estimates full-year 2026 GAAP EPS at $8.19 and 2027 at $9.13.
Apple is expected to report its first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on January 29. A consensus estimate calls for GAAP EPS of $2.67 on revenue of $138.2B.