iPhone 16 lead times starting to moderate, but still in line with iPhone 15: JPM

Lead times for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 16 line are starting to moderate, though they are still in line with the iPhone 15 line, investment firm J.P. Morgan said.

Apple shares rose fractionally in premarket trading on Monday.

“In Week 7 of our Apple Product Availability Tracker, delivery lead times across the entire iPhone 16 lineup moderated over last week, with the decline particularly notable across Pro models,” analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote in a note to clients. “While the moderation in Week 7 is slightly higher than evidenced last year in the same week, lead times in aggregate are still largely in line with iPhone 15 suggesting demand remains resilient, albeit modestly below this time last year.”

Chatterjee, who has an Overweight rating on Apple, noted lead times have fallen three days compared to week 6 and two days compared to week 7 in 2023. Lead times for the U.S. moderated “slightly” for the base models and “materially” for the Pro models (1 day and 8 to 15 days, respectively), while China and Europe also saw a moderate change in the lead times for the iPhone 16 line.

Apple is set to report fiscal fourth-quarter results after the close of trading on October 31. A consensus of analysts expect Apple to earn $1.55 per share on $94.26B in revenue.