Analyst: iPhone headed for record earnings growth

In a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — Guggenheim Partners analyst Robert Cihra says Apple is expected to post another solid quarter, driven by iPhone sales and strong services performance. Guggenheim has raised its Apple revenue estimate for the quarter to $52.9 billion, up from $52.4 billion. 

Cihra maintained his forecast of 43 million iPhone units sold, with a 4% year-over-year gain. He the average selling price of an Apple smartphone to rise 14% year-over-year.

“Investors have not seemed overly impressed with iPhone X uptake to date,” Cihra wrote, “but we think they ought to be much more impressed by Apple’s ability to raise ASP double-digits without impacting unit share in an otherwise no-growth smartphone market, illustrating the power of its high-end demographic and peel-off-the-top model.”

And following Apple’s strong services performance in the second quarter, Guggenheim expects that to continue. Apple services include Apple Music subscriptions, iTunes Music, iCloud storage plans, paid apps from Apple’s App Store, and Apple Care service plans, Apple Pay, etc.