CitiGroup Adds Apple to Top Picks, AAPL Perks Up

by , 2:10 PM EST, February 11th, 2008

Citigroup has added Apple to its Top Picks Live list, according to Reuters on Monday. The financial services company said that expected Apple earnings for the coming March quarter have been fully reflected in the current stock price.

The company said that while it sees the iPod growth as sluggish throughout the rest of 2008, offsets include a "robust build plan" for Macs and the recent introduction of the MacBook Air.

Citigroup has retained its "buy" rating for AAPL and has set a target price of US$212. The expected 3G iPhone was also pointed to as a source of investor confidence as well as Apple's target of 10 million phone shipments in 2008.

The Citigroup's Top Picks Live is a list of its Investment Research's highest conviction ideas through calendar year-end and was introduced in January 2008.

AAPL was trading at US$129.40 in early afternoon trading, up $3.92 for the day.

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In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.