Days after KeyBanc analysts Brandon Nispel and John Vinh downgraded Apple over concerns that soaring memory chip costs and rising iPad, Mac, and iPhone prices could spark a growth slowdown, HSBC analysts took the opposite view, upgrading the stock to a "Buy" rating to end the week.
HSBC analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson upgraded Apple to "Buy" from "Hold" on Friday morning and raised his price target to $366 from $260, telling clients that an "AI boost comes at the right moment" and could unleash a major device-upgrade cycle.
Cote-Colisson explained:
A new cycle ahead.
Thus far, we had retained a cautious approach on Apple with a Hold rating.
We had preferred other segments of the AI value chain, more prompt to exploit the bottlenecks created by the high demand in computing power, including hyperscalers or memory makers.
We think Apple is now at an operational turning point: not only can the company stay away from the (too) high capex debate (it only invests 2.5% of its 2026e sales vs 39% for hyperscalers, see page 10), we think it is also well placed to leverage its 2.5bn installed device base with its forthcoming revamped Apple Intelligence.
This AI boost comes at the right moment, when we think Apple has one of its most innovative product pipelines in place.
Cote-Colisson pointed out that Apple is at an "inflection point" as it prepares to deploy an agentic version of Siri capable of accessing information across applications and executing more complex tasks:
- New AI features coming this year represent a key catalyst for an acceleration in Apple's hardware and
