Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Apple Edges Toward $4T
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Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and SpotifyApple (AAPL) iPhone 17, AI initiatives key as company approaches $4T market cap club: Wedbush. (00:20) Unilever (UL) postpones ice cream spinoff due to U.S. government shutdown. (01:23) e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) shares weighed down by rhode’s disappointing sales. (02:06)
This is an abridged transcript.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has moved closer to a $4T valuation.
Shares rose nearly 4% on Monday.
The company received positive comments from a pair of Wall Street firms, Loop Capital and Evercore ISI, amid strong demand for the iPhone 17. Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah upgraded Apple to Buy from Hold and raised his price target to $315 from $226, while Evercore ISI added Apple to its Tactical Outperform List. The firm reiterated its Outperform rating and $290 price target.
The iPhone accounts for nearly half of Apple’s total revenue.
Separately, on Monday, Counterpoint Research said the iPhone 17 series has outsold the iPhone 16 series by 14% in its first 10 days of availability in both the U.S. and China. The research firm noted the base model of the iPhone 17 has been the “major driver,” as sell-out data is up by nearly 33% over the iPhone 16.
Unilever (NYSE:UL) is delaying the planned demerger of its ice cream business due to the government shutdown.
The company had initially planned to list Magnum on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange on November 10.
Because of the U.S. government shutdown, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently unable to declare effective the registration statement required for shares of The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. to be listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, according to reports.
However, despite the delay, Unilever (NYSE:UL) said that the general meeting of shareholders to vote on the proposed consolidation of its share capital, which is related to the demerger, will still take place as scheduled.
Shares of e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) were underwater on Monday after the company disclosed its newest acquisition had softer-than-expected sales for the second quarter.
According to a recent filing with the SEC, e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) said sales of rhode beauty totaled $40.2M for the three months ending June 30, a figure that was below what investors’ were expecting. The less-than-anticipated sales for the quarter overshadowed rhode’s healthy gross and operating margins, both of which will augment e.l.f. Beauty’s (NYSE:ELF) FY25 profitability.
Following e.l.f.’s (ELF) $1 billion acquisition of rhode—and prior to the recent disappointing sales data—analysts had projected the deal would add roughly $0.38 to FY25 earnings. However, given the uncertain tariff environment and disclosures in Friday’s 8-K filing, the earnings boost may be smaller than initially expected.
e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) closed nearly 7% lower on Monday, snapping a three-day winning streak.
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Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is flat at just under $57/barrel. Bitcoin is down 2.5% at $107,000. Gold is down 1.9% at $4,273.
The FTSE 100 is up 0.2% and the DAX is down 0.1%.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: DocGo (NASDAQ:DCGO) +34% – Shares climbed after announcing the acquisition of virtual care platform SteadyMD, which provides nationwide telehealth infrastructure and services to major healthcare and wellness brands, including multiple Fortune 10 companies.