In 2020, Apple, at least, has had a spectacular year, with AAPL stock up 77%, increasing the company’s valuation by more than $900 billion.
And there should be more good news to come in 2021, both for the company and the stock.
So says Citigroup analyst Jim Suva, who Friday morning took a fresh look at Apple shares (AAPL) and reiterated his Buy rating, lifting his target price to $150 from $125. (The stock is now a tad above his old target.) He offers up a list of five reasons Apple shares can still trade higher in the year ahead.
• Many Apple products are already sold out for the holiday season.
• India manufacturing production is coming online… He also notes that there are currently no Apple stores in India. If Apple can reach 10% of the India market, he says, it would boost revenue by $4 billion a year.
• Apple has become a platform that reaches beyond products and software.
• Apple is moving into health care, with Apple Watch applications “starting to be embraced by health insurance companies,” he notes.
• He also says there is the misperception that Apple’s top line isn’t growing, and that earnings per share is disproportionately boosted by stock buybacks.
MacDailyNews Take: From Jim’s lips to Mr. Market’s ears!
It’s not a terrible thing for Apple to be down today, but with ER looming on the horizon and Apple seems to have plenty of tailwinds, I’m surprised it’s down at all. Unlike Apple, Tesla seems to have much more enthusiastic or hopeful investors. I’m not concerned at all with Apple. I know Apple is going to report good earnings and the share price should be in the $140 to $145 range which will be fine with me.