September 27th, 1999

[10:30 AM] Wall Street Analyst Raises Apple To "Buy"

Banc of America Sec has raised their rating on Apple today to a Buy from Market Perform. This is the first ratings upgrade for Apple since July 26th when Soundview initiated coverage of Apple at a Buy. According to a Reuters report:

Banc of America analyst Kurt Kind said he raised his rating for Apple Computer Inc. Monday to buy from market perform.

"We still need convincing on the longer-term growth story, but believe the news in the near term is likely to be positive and that restored investor enthusiasm could lift the stock toward our $80 target price fairly quickly," King wrote in a report.

"The near-term outlook includes the launch of a new iMac, the possible unveiling of Apple's Internet strategy and projected FY 1Q revenue growth -- helped by shortage-induced backlogs for recently introduced products -- that would be Apple's highest in almost five years."

He added, "We're slightly reducing our 4Q (September) estimate due to notebook delays out of Taiwan but maintaining our estimates otherwise. Our 1Q (December) estimate of $0.93 is $0.04 above Street consensus."

This move comes as Apple's stock fell by nearly 20% during last week's trading. Despite today's rating from Banc of America Sec, Apple is selling lower during morning trading. As of this writing, Apple was trading at 63 1/4, a loss od 1 11/16. Much of the rest of the market is trading higher, including IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, and Intel. [Editor's Note: In fact, if you check Apple Stock Watch Stock Quotes included on our home page, the only stock in the red as of this writing is Apple's.]

For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.

The Mac Observer Spin: This comes at a good time for Apple, though the market has not paid much attention to the news. Combined with the impending release of the new iMac that we reported last week, Apple could possibly be looking at regaining some of the losses recently incurred.

Apple