Analyst: AAPL Has Hit Rock Bottom

October 9th, 2008 at 3:00 PM - Apple Stock Watch by John Martellaro

Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner thinks that Appleis stock [AAPL] has hit rock bottom. While he adjusted his target price down from $213 to $145, he made a strong case for the stock in a note in investors on Friday.

"To put Appleis current valuation in perspective, on a trailing cash flow basis, itis trading in line with the historic trough multiples of HPQ and DELL," he wrote. "You have to look back to the darkest days of 2001 - pre-iPod - to find Appleis multiple this beleaguered."

Mr. Reiner noted that Appleis cash on hand has now reached US$23 billion. If the global economy doesnit "plunge into a hall of horrors," Mr. Reiner expects Apple to continue to grow and outperform thanks to the continued migration from Windows to Macs, the iPhone, and ""a global Halo 2.0 effect thatis bringing iPhone users into the Mac fold."

Over at Piper Jaffray, analyst Gene Munster told his investors earlier this week that he expects to see price cuts on the new Apple notebooks of 9 to 18 percent on October 14, with meaningful upgrades.

In afternoon trading, AAPL was at US$95.96, up $7.22 for the day.

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