Benzinga | Dec 9, 2021 09:52PM EST

Barclays Sees Apple Vulnerable To TAC Pressure From Google

* Barclays analyst Tim Long says he noticed what he believes may be the first step in changing Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) "lucrative, high margin 'advertising' revenues," specifically the traffic acquisition costs.

* A new pop-up for the Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Search app on the iPhone "could signal a slight change to the current relationship," Long tells investors in a research note.

* Like other Google TAC agreements, the economics to Apple is based on a "healthy" share on the estimated lifetime search ad revenue generated by each phone, specific to each geography, the sum of which could be about $15 billion annually, Long says.

* He believes Apple could be facing TAC pressure from Google and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares with a $145 price target, implying a 17% downside.

* Price Action: AAPL shares traded higher by 0.24% at $175.50 on the last check Thursday.