Apple: How Many iPads Will Sell This Weekend?

With the Apple (AAPL) iPad due this weekend, the Street has begun trying to guess the initial sales.

• RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky this morning predicted that the company will sell 300,000-400,000 in the first weekend, and 1.5 million to 2 million in the June quarter. “We expect strong signals the iPad is an initial hit with early buyers, including launch lines, stockouts, positive reviews and buzz,” he writes. He continues to forecast 5 million units for CY 2010. Abramsky estimates that about a quarter of iPad buyers “may delay purchasing other Apple products” due to iPad purchases. Meanwhile, he lifted his FY 2010 EPS forecast to $12.04, from $11.68; for FY 2011 he goes to $14.04, from $13.16. He maintains his Outperform rating and $275 price target.
• Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster forecasts first-weekend sales of 200,000-300,000, with 900,000 in the June quarter, 2.7 million units in calendar 2010 – a forecast he says may prove conservative – and 8 million in 2011. He maintains his Overweight rating and $284 target.
• Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall uses the occasion of the iPad launch to repeat his Buy rating and $280 target; he writes that Apple “remains the best technology company on the planet.”

AAPL today is up $1.99, or 0.9%, to $236.99.