Banc of America Securities (BoFA) has lowered its target price for Appleis stock from US$85 to $82 based on concerns about lower iPod manufacturing levels. According to MarketWatch, Apple will not be producing as many iPods in the fiscal second and third quarters as it did during the first. BoFA analyst, Keith Bachman, commented "At this point, we are not clear if the heavy ship out of the last week of December or weaker-than-expected demand are the reasons."
Mr. Bachman is also concerned about sales for the Macintosh product line, feeling that sales have been slower than anticipated leading up to the release of Intel-based models. Shipments of the new MacBook Pro are expected to be limited in March since the PowerBook replacement doesnit start shipping until February.
BoFA is also reducing its central processing estimate for March from 1.22 million units to 1.19 million.
Apple is currently trading in the pre-market at $71.88, down 0.15 (0.21%).
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