Daryanani: Repatriation Talk Could Drive Apple Higher

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock could gain if it talks about repatriating its billions of dollars in offshore funds, RBC Capital Markets’ Amit Daryanani told CNBC ahead of earnings.

“The expectation today is about a 10 percent uptick in capital allocation as you go into the call. If it’s something better, if they talk about repatriating money, that $200-billion-plus they have offshore into the US, returning it back to shareholders, that absolutely could drive the stock much higher,” Daryanani said on Squawk on the Street.

The analyst cited the example of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) to make his case. Cisco raised its dividend, and its stock reacted positively. The analyst thinks the same could happen for Apple.

“The holdback on them is that most of the cash is trapped overseas right now,” Daryanani noted.

Meanwhile, Daryanani said the iPhone 7 won’t be as revolutionary as previous models.

“As you get to the 7, all the stuff you’ve seen so far, all the discussions, again indicate it’s a bit more of an evolutionary product rather than revolutionary,” Daryanani added.

Wall Street expects Apple to earn $2.00 on revenue of $51.97 billion. In January, Apple guided second quarter sales of $50–$53 billion.