Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares, which have been struggling in recent months, are up around 1% Monday, helped by comments from BofA analysts who said global App Store revenue increased 15% year-on-year in February.
The investment bank also calculated, using data from SensorTower, that revenue from China increased 10% year-on-year in February.
"As per SensorTower data, App Store revenues in F2Q24 (after 66 days) increased to $5.2bn (+8.4% y/y, according to data on developer revenues from SensorTower), with total downloads (iPhone + iPad) increasing +1.2% y/y," said the bank.
The firm maintained a Buy rating and $225 price target on the stock, based on a multi-year iPhone cycle "driven by GenAI, strong services growth and margin expansion."
The firm noted that so far in F2Q24, they have seen Apple App Store dollars per download increase 7.1% year-on-year.
The US and China accounted for 57% of total App Store revenue in F2Q24 to date, with the US accounting for 32% and China accounting for 25%, making them the two major App Store markets.
Looking ahead, BofA models total services revenue growth of 11% year-on-year in F2Q24. "We view resiliency in Services as a long-term bullish indicator," they declared.