Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu believes that Apple’s iCloud, which will be unveiled at next week’s World Wide Developer Conference, will make iTunes more valuable. In a research note obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Wu told clients that it could be “a very big deal.”
“[Apple’s] new ‘iCloud’ service will likely be the company’s most aggressive (to date) move into the emerging cloud computing space,” the analyst wrote. He said he believes it will make, “iTunes even more powerful and useful by allowing access to content from any device, anywhere.”
He also argued that in the past, “every time a major new feature is added to iTunes (like TV and movie rentals), its utility value increases, which in turn drives more hardware sales, i.e., iPhone, iPad, and Macs.”
The analyst maintained his 12-month price target on AAPL, which is set at US$460 per share. He also maintained his “Buy” rating on the stock.
Shares of AAPL moved higher in the late morning session Wednesday, trading at $349.43, up $1.60 (+0.46%), on strong volume.
*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.