Apple’s first major product launch since 2014 left mixed feelings among Wall Street analysts after the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference . The tech giant on Monday unveiled its Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which will retail for $3,499. Shares of Apple closed lower after the product unveiling and were down 0.5% in premarket trading on Tuesday. In the immediate aftermath, D.A. Davidson downgraded Apple stock to neutral , insisting that any positive bump from the Vision Pro announcement was already priced into the stock’s current trading levels. AAPL YTD mountain Shares of Apple were heading lower for a second-straight day Tuesday. Other major firms on Wall Street are also reassessing their view on the stock less than 24-hours after the product reveal. “We expect investors to debate the commercial success/model implications of the new platform,” Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers said in a Monday note. “As a reference, we would initially est. that if Apple’s Vision Pro could achieve a ~25% ship share this would leave us to est. a ~$0.20- $0.40/sh. EPS (~5% upside vs. our C2025 est.).” Rakers had a more bullish view on the breadth of announcements at the conference. He raised his price target to $210 from $185, implying upside of about 17% from Monday’s close. The analyst has an overweight rating on the stock. Goldman Sachs also struck a positive note, restating a buy rating on shares of the tech giant as well as its $209 per share price target, which points to 16.4% upside. “In our view, the launch of the 15″ MacBook Air positions Apple well to benefit from the industry PC recovery as we exit 2023 and enter 2024, while the OS updates – while immaterial individually – should help to strengthen the Apple ecosystem and installed base,” analyst Michael Ng wrote on Monday. “Although the announcement of the headset was expected, the retail price was higher-than-expected with a slightly later-than-expected launch date.” Meanwhile, JPMorgan maintained its overweight rating, with analyst Samik Chatterjee thinks the Vision Pro could underpin growth in the overall virtual reality market despite the high price point. “While Vision Pro might not drive significant volumes given its premium price point, it could be the potential catalyst for the the AR/VR market as Apple has proven in the past that consumer engagement can deliver willingness to pay premium pricing and Apple’s focus is clearly to hit an home-run on consumer engagement as opposed to volumes with the first device in what admittedly will be a multi-year journey for the platform,” Chatterjee said. Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi had a more cautious take. He reiterated his market perform rating on Apple with a $175 per share price target on the stock, which is 2.5% lower than Monday’s close. He lauded Apple’s “strong track record of creating new markets,” but noted consumers could struggle to justify the costly headset. “We continue to struggle with the consumer value proposition beyond traditional VR applications (gaming, 3D/HD movies),” Sacconaghi wrote on Tuesday. “Productivity apps remind of us the failed vision of WebTV and other applications today (other than select commercial training uses with HoloLens) appear limited.” Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring also noted that the device is a long-term “‘show-me’ story until a ‘killer app’ is established.” To be sure, he maintained Apple as a top pick and with a price target of $190. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
