By Sam Boughedda
BofA Securities analysts maintained a Neutral rating and $160 price target on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares in a note on Tuesday, telling investors that the App Store continues to decline year-over-year in fiscal Q1 2203 quarter-to-date.
They argued that global App Store revenue in fiscal Q1, based on data from SensorTower, declined to $2.4bn, -4% year-over-year through October 30, with total downloads for iPhone and iPad up 2% year-over-year.
"This compares to revenue decline of about 1% y/y at this point in F4Q22 (36 days). For the month of Oct (as of Oct 30th ), App store rev in China declined 3% y/y vs. prior year, when China App Store rev grew 4% y/y in Oct 2021," the analysts stated. "With respect to App Store rev for F1Q23 QTD by region, the U.S. accounted for 33% of rev (vs. 30% in F1Q22 QTD) while China accounted for 26% (vs. 25% in F1Q22 QTD). For total downloads in F1Q23 QTD, U.S. accounted for 22% (vs. 23% In F1Q22 QTD) and China accounted for 22% (vs. 23% in F1Q22 QTD)."
They acknowledged that recent app store price increases in certain regions will partially offset the decline in dollars per download, but they "continue to worry about an overall decline in consumer demand."
Apple shares are down over 2% Tuesday.