One day after Citigroup cut its estimate on Apple Inc. and predicted other sell-side analysts would do the same, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves said Tuesday iPhone unit estimates are too high for the first two quarters of fiscal-year 2016. Hargreaves raised his iPhone unit estimate to 66.9 million from 62.4 million, but said the estimate remains below both buy-side and sell-side expectations. A lower-than-expected iPhone unit outlook might prompt first-quarter revenue guidance “well below” the consensus estimate of $76.4 billion, he said. Apple might actually benefit from tempered expectations, as the premium price of its phone and stickiness of its customers drives value and protects cash flow over the long term, according to Hargreaves. Shares of Apple fell 0.2% in premarket trade, putting them on track to open around $110.60. They are down more than 12% over the last three months, versus a 5% decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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