A fter hitting a 52-week high on Wednesday, shares in Apple Computer (AAPL) closed Thursday at yet another new 52-week high of US$52.19, a gain of $1.89 (+3.76%).
The stock traded on heavy volume of 15.4 million shares trading hands. Appleis current market value climbed to $20.43 billion, and its price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) stands at 73.61. In comparison, Dellis P/E stands at 30.48, while Microsoftis is 36.
News driving Appleis stock hike include the unveiling of its new iPod Photo, and a special edition U2 iPod, both of which were introduced on Tuesday of this week.
In addition, on Wednesday, Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich raised his estimates for Apple for the fiscal first quarter ending December to earnings of 42 cents per share on revenue of $2.95 billion, up from earnings of 40 cents per share on revenue of $2.85 billion.
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