A wave of Apple iPhone 5 buyers is poised to buoy the stocks of Apple's mobile partners.
Apple
stock has risen 6% since Sept. 11, the day before the company unveiled
the sixth generation of the iPhone, which hits stores on Friday.
MORE: Apple iPhone fans line up for days
Apple shares reached an all-time high of $702.10 on Wednesday.
Investors
are trading on Apple's announcement that it sold more than 2 million
phones last weekend in pre-orders and on analysts' increased sales
expectations. But Apple stock -- up 73% this year -- isn't the only
investment play. The rising tide of iPhone 5 sales is positioned to
boost the stocks of businesses whose technologies are packed inside the
smartphone and of wireless carriers that will sell the phone.
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"If
iPhone 5 shipments are stronger than anyone expects, you'll certainly
see Apple's stock go up and all of the component suppliers go up," says
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Dale Pfau.
FBR
Capital forecasts that more than 50 million iPhone 5s could move in the
fourth quarter of 2012, and that 250 million could be sold over the
phone's lifespan.
There's no official
confirmation of which companies' products were used inside the iPhone
5. That will come later from the first tear-down analysis reports from
firms that buy the phone to study its innards. Meanwhile, financial
analysts have come up with a list of Apple partners to watch.
Nomura
Equity Research cites Apple's iPhone 5, upcoming iPad mini and other
tablets as catalysts for component makers. Nomura predicts many of the
same electronics in the iPhone 4S -- such as chips from Qualcomm,
Broadcom and Samsung -- will be in the iPhone 5. Other chip stocks to
watch include TriQuint Semiconductor, Skyworks Solutions and RF Micro
Devices.
Rumors of product launches, changes
around parts pricing, and shifts in market share for component suppliers
can quickly move stocks, Pfau says. "All of us will watch that
closely."
Also, carriers that offer the
fast-selling iPhone 5 -- Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint in the
U.S. -- should see a steady revenue stream as earnings will focus on
iPhone sales.
USA Today