STOCKS | Evercore ISI Keeps Apple at Outperform With $380 Target, Citing AI Services and Rising Procurement

Evercore ISI reiterated its Outperform rating on Apple and maintained its $380 price target after the company released its fiscal 2026 Form 10-K annual report on November 4. According to Sina Finance, the target implies about 14.5% upside from the latest share price of $331.90, while Apple’s manufacturing purchase commitments rose by approximately $33 billion from the previous quarter to $89.7 billion, with $82.7 billion due within the next 12 months. Evercore said the increase in commitments may be mainly related to purchases of memory chips, particularly NAND flash, reflecting Apple’s efforts to strengthen supply-chain reserves. Apple listed Siri AI for the first time as a service included with purchases of iPhone, Mac, and iPad devices, and deferred some device sales revenue for recognition during the period in which the related services are provided. Deferred revenue increased about 8% year over year to $14.8 billion, indicating that AI services have been incorporated into the company’s device sales and revenue recognition framework. Apple’s quarterly inventory rose by approximately $3.4 billion from the previous quarter to $14.5 billion. Component inventory increased by about $2.8 billion to $10.4 billion, up approximately 37% from the previous quarter, indicating that the company is building inventory for future hardware deliveries.