Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall believes that Apple’s iCloud introduction during Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference “stole the show.” In a research note obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Marshall told clients that Apple’s new cloud service will make Apple’s ecosystem “stickier” for customers.
One cloud to rule them all…
“The introduction of the widely anticipated iCloud service offering stole the show (relative to the previews of iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion),” Mr. Marshall wrote. “While it is unlikely to move the ‘financial needle’ at AAPL anytime soon, we believe iCloud is significant as it increases the ‘stickiness’ of the AAPL ecosystem.”
He added that this was, “another reason why roughly 95% of the total PC and smartphone users today who are not using an AAPL product should be.”
He also said that iCloud is “brimming with opportunity,” and said that the services Apple will be offering on day 1 of its rollout are likely to far exceed investment community expectations.
The analyst also told his clients that he believed Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s physical appearance. “has taken an unfortunate turn for the worse since his last public event (iPad 2 introduction).” He lists Mr. Jobs’s health as a “key-man risk” for the company.
Mr. Marshall maintained his “Buy” rating on shares of AAPL, as well as a US$450 price target for the stock. The markets have punished the stock since the WWDC keynote, likely because Apple didn’t announce new hardware for the show, and this despite the fact that the company said ahead of time the keynote would focus on Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud.
In late afternoon trading, AAPL was trading lower at $333.411, down $4.629 (-1.37%), on strong volume.
*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.