Analysts at Goldman Sachs (GS) have removed Apple (AAPL)’s stock from Americas Conviction Buy List, and cut the iPhone-maker’s price target from $660 to $575.
In a note published Tuesday, Goldman said that while it maintained a “Buy” rating on the ticker, it has not seen the market share and new user growth the firm had anticipated. In addition, Goldman lowered its estimates for the company as it believes Apple will have a hard time hitting consensus expectations in the March and June quarters.
[via MW] “The most recent product cycle has not driven the market share and new user growth we had anticipated, and we believe Apple may find it difficult to hit consensus expectations in the March and June quarters, and as a result, we lower our estimates and our price target,” the investment bank said.
Goldman lowered its FY 2013 Apple EPS estimate to $44.64 from $47.29. They also lowered FY 2014 EPS from $52.22 to $49.23 and FY 2015 from $60.75 to $57.22. On the positive side, Goldman said Apple’s stock has gained nearly 34% since being added to the conviction list on Dec. 12, 2010, versus a 25.9% gain in the S&P 500.
Apple shares fell $13.75, or 3.11%, to close at $428.91 in Nas trading on Monday. Pre-market: up $2.48, or 0.58%, at $431.39 / 7:36 AM EDT real-time quotes.