Goldman Sachs Bumps AAPL Target to $520 on Strong Sales

AAPL Tuesday morningApple seems to be doing a pretty good job at gaining customers even in a weak world economy. Apple is doing so well, in fact, that Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope has raised is twelve month target price for the company’s stock from US$480 up to $520.

“Apple’s momentum appears even more resistant to macroeconomic pressures than we previously realized,” Mr. Shope said, according to Barrons. “Wwe believe the stock has significant upside from current levels — even after recent outperformance.”

Apple has managed to continually grow its iPhone and iPad user base, and Mac sales continue to rise even as the over all PC market slows down.

Mr. Shope raised his December quarter (first quarter) iPhone sales estimate from 26.3 million units up to 26.8 million. He is also expecting Apple to sell some 16.92 million iPhones in the quarter, along with 13.05 million iPads.

Along with his revised sales estimates, Mr. Shope bumped up his fourth quarter revenue estimate from $27.37 billion up to $28.71 billion with an EPS of $7.30, up from $6.49.

Mr. Shope’s $520 target price for Apple’s stock comes with a “Buy” rating. Apple is currently trading at $417.36, up 3.91 (0.95%).