Apple’s many haters are at a loss for negative things to say about the company now that its first-quarter earnings came in less awful than many feared, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday.
“The issue for those who hate Apple? Sorry, guys. No more new ammunition,” Cramer, host of “Mad Money,” said after the iPhone maker’s report.
Apple’s first-quarter results were slightly above Wall Street expectations, with earnings beating analyst estimates by 1 cent and the top-line revenue of $84.3 billion beating consensus estimates of $83.97 billion. Revenue for the iPhone came in slightly below projections, in line with Apple’s early January warning about its first-quarter results.
Yet before the report, the negativity was near-deafening, said Cramer, whose charitable trust owns shares of Apple. People were worried about Apple’s service revenue weakening, which didn’t happen, or a slowdown in Apple Watch sales, which also didn’t seem to pan out.
“The news simply wasn’t horrible enough to sate the bears. In fact, the stock is trading in after-hours above the pre-announcement price,” Cramer said.
Does the longtime Apple bull think the stock is back? Perhaps, if the United States and China are able to make a trade deal. Greater China is Apple’s third-largest market by revenue.
“We get a trade deal? I think you’ve got a $180 stock, up $20 from here,” he said. “There just isn’t that much risk now after we got the high sign on the January numbers.”
Apple’s stock ended Tuesday down 1 percent ahead of its earnings report. The stock popped about 5.5 percent in after-hours trading following the release.
Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Apple.
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