In the face of spectacular performance on the stock market in recent weeks, another Wall Street analyst has revised its forecast on Apple's earnings as well as their target price for Apple's stock. According to Reuters:
Warburg Dillon Read said Friday it raised its price target and outlook for fiscal 2000 earnings per share on personal computer maker Apple Computer Inc.
In a report, the firm said a "recent meeting with Apples management suggests that sales could be materially more robust in fiscal 2000 than we had previously forecast."
Warburg Dillon Read raised its forecast for earnings per share by only $0.05 to $3.20 "because the strongest selling models carry lower gross margins.
"However, we believe the positive impact on the stock price will be far greater since in valuing Apple, investors are often focused more on anticipated revenue growth than earnings improvement.
The price target was raised to $75 from $65. The rating stayed at buy.
As of 11:29 AM (with a 15 minute delay), Apple's stock was trading at 63 9/16, a gain of 1 7/16 or 2.31%. Volume is moderately heavy for morning trading with 2,137,200 shares trading hands. Should Apple manage to close above 63, it will mark yet another 7 year closing high for the company. We will be watching Apple's stock closely throughout the day.
For more articles on Apple's stock performance, check out our Apple Stock Watch Report.
The Mac Observer Spin: We expect other analysts to also revise their outlook on Apple in upcoming weeks. Apple's stock has been a strong performer that has been trading steadily upwards, despite a market that has actually seen the tech sector take several hits.
There are several analysts covering Apple that have target prices in the US$60 range. With Apple having met that mark, in many cases sooner than expected, it follows that covering analysts will raise their targets.
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