by , 8:20 AM EDT, May 14th, 2007

Apple stock has been climbing steadily for some time now, and lately seems to hit a new high on an almost daily basis. Sticking to that trend, the Mac and iPod maker's stock broke through US$109 on Monday morning after closing at $108.74 last Friday.

The company's strong performance over the past few quarters has analysts seeing continued growth for the foreseeable future. "We believe shares can continue to surge into calendar year end on the back of new products," said UBS analyst Ben Reitzes. "The thesis that Mac sales can surge is alive and well."

Apple also has a strong line up of new product releases on the way that include iPhone, a combination iPod and smart phone; Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), the successor to Apple's current Mac operating system; and new iPod models, all of which will help spur Mac sales.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster commented "With Apple heading into three quarters of significant product releases (iPhone, Leopard, new iPod) and the education buying season, we expect year-over-year market share gains to continue."

Apple's market cap is currently sitting at $94.03 billion. In comparison, the PC maker Dell has a market cap of $57.56 billion, some $36.47 billion below Apple.

Apple stock is currently trading in the pre-market at $109.32, up 0.58 (0.53%).