Apple JP Morgan boosts target to $360 as iPhone Duo could help

JP Morgan raised its Apple target from $340 to $360 because it expects the iPhone Duo to make up for weaker sales elsewhere in the lineup. The bank kept its Overweight rating, which means it expects the stock to do better than the wider market.

The note came as Apple shares were recovering from a scare. Days earlier, a Nikkei Asia report citing several people familiar with the matter said Apple had asked some suppliers to make fewer components for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max because of soft demand. Apple’s stock fell roughly 2.5% in early trading on the news, then won back much of the loss, closing at $340.97 on the day of the JP Morgan note.

JP Morgan doesn’t think so. Its analysts said the reported cuts are consistent with Apple’s normal production patterns and don’t necessarily point to an unexpected drop in demand.

The bank’s analyst, Samik Chatterjee, did note that delivery times for the Pro Max shortened more sharply than for the Pro, which suggests weaker demand than a year earlier. That softness came mostly from international markets rather than the US. JP Morgan also kept flagging supply limits and wider economic pressure on shoppers as risks.

Apple has split its iPhone launches this year. The Pro models and the Duo arrived in the fall, while the regular iPhone 18 isn’t expected in stores until early next year. JP Morgan expects the Duo to fill that gap.

For the December quarter, the bank forecast:

• About 8.5 million iPhone Duo units sold.
• iPhone revenue down roughly 2% from a year earlier, because the regular iPhone 18 is missing.
• Apple’s total revenue up about 2%, helped by other products and services.

On the same day, China’s Securities Times reported that Apple had raised its Duo orders by 30%, which could push production for the rest of 2026 close to 10 million units.

The Duo’s launch supported JP Morgan’s case, at least on demand. Apple’s first folding phone went on sale on October 23 for about $2,000, and early stock sold out fast, mostly to people who had preordered. Apple stores in the US received from about 50 to more than 200 units each, and delivery dates on Apple’s website stretched to late January.

Apple stock touched a record $351.73 as the Duo went on sale. Taiwan’s Economic Daily reported that Apple asked suppliers to raise Duo orders by 30%, and estimates for this year’s shipments reportedly climbed from about 6 million to between 8 million and 10 million.

Supply is the catch. A source told one Chinese outlet that Foxconn’s final assembly yield was only just above 60% in mid-September, meaning only about 60 of every 100 phones passed final checks. Apple hasn’t confirmed that figure. Chatterjee, who kept his $360 target, said waits of more than three months are partly down to those production challenges.

Not all of them. Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives has a $400 target and says demand is running well ahead of supply. Loop Capital went the other way, cutting Apple to Hold in October with a $330 target, citing expected iPhone shipments below Wall Street’s forecast and rising memory costs. The average analyst target sits around $337, below where the stock has been trading.

For ordinary investors, the takeaway is that the Duo is now central to Apple’s story. This isn’t a buy or sell recommendation, and analyst targets often change. The next real data point is Apple’s earnings report.

Apple reports results for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in September, on November 2. It will be John Ternus’s first earnings report as CEO. Analysts expect about $113.44 billion in revenue, which would be growth of roughly 10.7%.

Those numbers will include the first weeks of iPhone 18 Pro sales but no Duo sales, since the Duo launched in October. That makes Apple’s comments on the holiday quarter, and on Duo supply, the part JP Morgan’s forecast really depends on.