Apple price target lowered to $280 from $286 at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng lowered the firm’s price target on Apple (AAPL) to $280 from $286 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The price target revision is driven by lower iPhone sales, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm expects Apple to report fiscal Q1 earnings per share of $2.35, in-line with consensus, and revenue of $124.2B versus the consensus of $124.8B. It forecasts 1% year-over-year iPhone revenue growth in Q1 as shipment declines of 4% is more than offset by 5% year-over-year iPhone sales price growth. While competition has intensified within the Chinese smartphone market, Goldman is encouraged by the potential for accelerating iPhone growth in fiscal 2026, driven by new product innovation for the iPhone 17 and 18 and the continued rollout of Apple Intelligence to new markets with a more robust feature set, contends the analyst. Goldman sees a “soft start” to the fiscal year for Apple but a reversal by mid-year.