Zacks Rates Apple Stock as a Hold

Today, Zacks has announced its latest Industry Outlook, which looks at Apple and Sony. Highlighted stocks of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) are discussed by Zacks Equity Research analyst Ian Gilson, who rates Apple as a Hold, and Sony as a Sell.

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. According to the firm's analyst, Ian Gilson, “the only bright spot is the smartphone business, where the iPhone and Blackberry are selling well. We expect several new product offerings in this market in mid-year,” goes Gilson's forecast. “The strong smartphone market will benefit Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), but will not offset the decline in revenue from computers and the impact of lower-priced iPods. We currently rate AAPL as a Hold,” reads an official report from Zacks.

As far as the LCD TV market is concerned, the excess flat panel inventory is reportedly being consumed. As a result of this, shortages may occur when Asian production begins to build in July for the year end 2009 selling season, Zacks predicts. Moreover, several major flat panel producers have closed marginal plants, while opening the latest generation of plants has been put off.

Sensing a decrease in volume sales between October and November this year, with Sony being one of the major HDTV vendors, Zacks predicts that the company behind the PlayStation brand will experience declining margins from its TV business. According to Gilson, “the volume of LCD TV sales are up year to year, but prices erosion has been significant.”

Gilson estimates that, “if panel prices increase and retail prices stabilize we would expect declines in volume sales in the October/November time frame. As one of the leading HDTV producers Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), selling high-end TVs against the low-cost Chinese producers, is expected to show declining margins from its TV business,” Zacks' analyst predicts. “We rate SNE as a Sell,” he concludes.