Bank of America is upping its Apple stock price target to $260 in the wake of the antitrust ruling that sweeps away fears that Google wouldn't be able to pay the iPhone maker for preferred internet search engine positioning.
Tuesday's federal ruling in Google's antitrust case has led to a good Wednesday for both it and Apple. After a positive response from investors and analysts, Bank of America is joining in the plaudits for Apple.
In a note to investors on Wednesday, Bank of America decided to raise the price target for both Apple and Google. BoA's price target for Apple going up from the previous figure of $250 to $260.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta takes a number of remedies off the table when it comes to Google's search monopoly case. Of interest to Apple is the aspect that Google is allowed to continue paying companies for preferential treatment.
This includes Apple's deal with Google which puts Google as the default search engine in Safari on the iPhone. The deal is worth tens of billions per year to Apple, a sizable figure that was put at risk by the antitrust suit.
Google also won't have to break up its business and sell Chrome off either, allowing it to keep its browser.
To analyst Wamsi Mohan, the decision gives him confidence in Apple's Services business revenue, which incorporated the search deal. He also believes there won't be any real issue with the search deal in the future either.
To Mohan, the substance of one of the proposed Google remedies already exists. While Google is the default search engine in Safari, users still have the option to change the search within the iPhone's settings.
Apple's share price has remained buoyant on Wednesday. After opening higher than Tuesday's close, AAPL is hovering around $237 at the time of publication, up by over 3%.
For Google, the stock price target is going from $217 to a healthier $252.
