The upgrade came with a detailed explanation of why he had been cautious before and what changed his mind.<\/p>\n
Why HSBC was skeptical and what changed<\/p>\n
Cote-Colisson had spent most of 2026 preferring other parts of the AI<\/a> trade over Apple. His firm had been more focused on hyperscalers and memory chip manufacturers, which it saw as better positioned to capture the immediate AI infrastructure boom. Apple was on Hold while those names were the preferred call.<\/p>\n The switch comes from a different read on where Apple sits in the AI economy. Most AI infrastructure plays are spending enormous amounts on capital expenditure, CNBC reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n Apple is not. The firm invests roughly 2.5% of its 2026 estimated sales in capex. Hyperscalers are running at 39%. That gap is a big part of what Cote-Colisson is highlighting.<\/p>\n \u201cApple is now at an operational turning point: not only can the company stay away from the (too) high capex debate\u2026 it is also well placed to leverage its 2.5 billion installed device base with its forthcoming revamped Apple Intelligence,\u201d Cote-Colisson wrote in his note.<\/p>\n In other words, Apple gets AI exposure without the capital spending burden that comes with building data centers. That\u2019s a different kind of bet from a hyperscaler, and HSBC thinks the market hasn\u2019t fully priced it in yet.<\/p>\n The Apple product roadmap HSBC is betting on<\/p>\n The upgrade isn\u2019t just an AI call. A lot of it is about what Apple is planning to release. Cote-Colisson described the upcoming product lineup as one of Apple\u2019s most innovative in years, Investing.com reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n The pipeline he\u2019s pointing to includes the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max coming this fall, an iPhone Air expected in April 2027, and a book-style foldable iPhone that HSBC flagged as the most significant new device in the lineup.<\/p>\n More Apple:<\/p>\n Beyond phones, the bank also sees smart glasses and a special 20th-anniversary iPhone edition landing in 2027. <\/p>\n On the software side, Apple is rolling out its agentic Siri AI this year. It includes visual intelligence, cross-app information access, and context-aware conversations, running on foundation models that work on-device rather than in the cloud.<\/p>\n \u201cThis AI boost comes at the right moment, when we think Apple has one of its most innovative product pipelines in place,\u201d Cote-Colisson wrote. <\/p>\n His argument is that consumers who are still on iPhone 15 and 16 models from 2023 and 2024 now have a real reason to upgrade.<\/p>\n What the revenue upgrades say about iPhone and services<\/p>\n HSBC raised its 2027-28 group revenue forecasts by 7% to 9%. The bigger move was on iPhone sales, where estimates went up 11% to 13%. <\/p>\n The bank is modeling iPhone sales growth of about 21% in 2026 and 11.6% in 2027. Services revenue estimates for 2027 rose 5.4%, a smaller but meaningful number given how much of Apple\u2019s margin profile depends on services.<\/p>\n The 2027 earnings per share<\/a> estimate came in at $10.26, roughly 8% higher than before and 7.5% above the current analyst consensus. That kind of above-consensus earnings view is typically what drives a stock to run above the average price target, Seeking Alpha reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Apple hit an all-time high the day before this note was published. HSBC says the stock has room to go even higher.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/headshot-for-tipranks.jpg\"\/)
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