Evercore: Apple Store Sees First Ever Month of Declining Revenue

07 SEPTEMBER 2022 - In July, Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani tracked the first month of no growth for the App Store. Now, he’s tracked the first month of App Store decline. According to a note he wrote last month, “The App Store did not grow in July, the first month without growth since the Store’s inception.” Now a new note highlighted by Apple 3.0 has the analyst saying:

App Store revenue declined in August for the first time since the Store’s inception. (…) The slowdown is most notable in Japan and China where revenue was down double digits while the US (+9%) has held up better.

No cause for freakout, in his estimation. According to the note:

The slowdown should be well understood by investors as the App Store grew only 5% in the Jun-qtr and Apple guidance indicated Services growth should decelerate further in the Sept-qtr.

Going forward, Daryanani says:

App Store revenue will likely remain flat or in decline until we begin to see improving conditions in China. We expect other components of the Services business to pick up the slack over the long-term and Apple looks to have derisked the near-term with cautious guidance.

Daryanani has an “Outperform” rating on Apple shares. His price target on the shares is $180.