RBC Capital Markets on Friday advised investors to stay long on Apple stock, as the investment firm sees multiple catalysts for the company in the near future, starting with the reporting of holiday iPhone sales.
Shares of Apple stock took an unexpected slide on Thursday, and dragged the larger market down as a whole with it, after a high-profile Japanese bank downgraded its rating on the iPhone maker to "neutral."
Following a deluge of health and fitness devices announced at CES, one analyst has said he believes Apple's Health application and HealthKit tools for developers will help foster a diverse ecosystem that will further differentiate the iPhone from competing platforms.
After being pushed downward across the first week of 2015, Apple's stock surged $4.14 today to close at $111.89, adding over $24.27 billion to the company's market capitalization.
The latest research from UBS has prompted the firm to advise investors that it believes Apple sold a massive 69 million iPhones in the just-concluded December quarter — a sum that would obliterate the company's previous all-time record.
Apple on Monday announced it will reveal financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2015 on Jan. 27, with company executives expected to field questions covering what is anticipated to be another blockbuster for the tech giant.
The Apple Watch is expected to be a significant part of Apple's growth story in calendar year 2015, according to research firm Evercore, which advised investors to buy in to AAPL stock ahead of the wearable device's imminent launch.
This year, Apple spent three times more investing in itself than the next closest company in the S&P 500, totaling $56 billion on stock buybacks in fiscal 2014.
If Apple can build enough units to satisfy consumer demand, it could sell as many as 67 million iPhones this quarter, crushing the company's previous all-time sales record, according to a new survey conducted by Morgan Stanley.
Following a disappointing 2013, most professional investors decided to pass on Apple this year, and as a result missed out on one of 2014's biggest success stories on Wall Street.
Consumer demand for Apple's latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus continues to outstrip supply heading into the end of the December quarter, according to the latest research from store polls conducted by Piper Jaffray.
Apple's final quarter of 2014 is expected to set dramatic new records in iPhone sales and overall profits, but external issues out of the company's control will also play a part, ranging from cheaper oil to declining foreign currencies.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley on Wednesday agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $4 million in fines for violating the market access rule when it allowed a rogue trader to fraudulently purchase some $1 billion of Apple stock in 2012.
Analyst Alex Gauna of JMP Securities has raised his price target for Apple from $135 to $150, predicting an "explosive" quarter for the company based on "exceptionally strong" demand seen in both China and the United States.
British banking giant Barclays this week raised its price target for Apple shares to $140 from $120, saying that increased customer demand for larger-screened iPhones and iPads, the introduction of the Apple Watch, and the unveiling of new services like Apple Pay could significantly expand the company's margins.
Investment firm Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on shares of Apple to $135 on Tuesday, citing its latest survey showing supply constraints for the higher-capacity iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, signaling higher average selling prices and greater profits for the company's handset division.
Apple shares on Monday saw its most precipitous decline in three months after opening to unusually high trade volume, shedding as much as $40 billion in market value before rebounding to end the day down more than three percent.
A new survey from UBS suggests that the Apple Watch could get off to a strong start, leading the investment firm to predict sales of 24 million units and gross profit of $3.4 billion from the wearable device in its first few months alone.
Shares of Apple reached another major financial milestone on Tuesday, crossing the $700 billion market capitalization threshold just after trading began on Wall Street.
Shares of Apple stock reached a new all-time high on Monday, rising to $118.63 at the closing bell with a record market capitalization of nearly $700 billion.
{{ summary }}
Neil Hughes
Daniel Eran Dilger
AppleInsider Staff
Mikey Campbell
