Lion's AppleWatch

Lion's AppleWatch -  www.keezer.nl/applewatch/

"Attempting to analyze Apple through the general mediocrity of the industry they're part of, is just not the way to look at Apple..."

  maandag, 20 september 2010

Apple shares climb after iPad forecast

NEW YORK - Shares of Apple Inc. hit a new peak Monday on their long march higher, propelled by an analyst report suggesting iPad sales could boost the company's quarterly results ahead of expectations.

THE SPARK: Citing better-than-expected demand for the new tablet computer, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu lifted his price target for Apple shares to $374 from $350.

THE BIG PICTURE: Apple's share price has been climbing steadily since the stock market lows of March 2009.

Despite the fall in consumer spending during the recession, Apple has continued to sell more computers, iPods and iPhones.

THE ANALYSIS: Wu said the iPad will help Apple beat Wall Street expectations for the fiscal quarter ending this month [~] even though the new gadget has eaten into sales of low-end MacBook computers.

Wu now estimates Apple will have sold 5.7 million iPads during the quarter, up from a previous forecast of 3.6 million. He trimmed his MacBook estimate only slightly, to 3.8 million from 3.9 million.

He predicts that the volume of sales will result in overall earnings for the quarter of $4.12 per share on revenue of $19.3 billion, up from a previous estimate of $3.74 per share on $18 billion in revenue.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $3.98 per share and revenue of $18.6 billion.

SHARE ACTION: Apple shares hit a new high Monday of $281.76 before paring their gains slightly. The stock rose $5.39, or 2 percent, to $280.76 in late morning trading. 6:06:45 PM