American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu reinstated his "Buy" rating for Appleis stock on Monday and boosted his target price from US$175 up to $210. Mr. Wu had lowered his rating to "Neutral" just a day before Appleis second quarter earnings report.
Prior to Appleis positive quarterly earnings report, Mr. Wu voiced concerns over how much investors were expecting from the Mac, iPod and iPhone maker. He also expressed concerns over the companyis high valuation and stock volatility.
"We overestimated the potential negative reaction on the quarter and in hindsight should have moderated our near-term posture rather than downgrading," Mr. Wu said. "While Apple shares will likely remain volatile and may offer a better entry point, we need to align our rating with our longer term view on fundamentals."
In the short term, however, Apple is likely to experience a "product vacuum" while customers await the arrival of new iPhone and portable Mac models which he expects will appear in the second half of 2008.
Looking forward, Mr. Wu sees a positive outlook for Apple since consumers will be looking for easy to use multimedia devices. "Integrating technologies into products that are simple and elegant has continually proven not to be easy," he said. "Apple is an innovator and integrator of technologies. No supplier does this better than Apple and no competitor has better vision on where consumer markets are headed."
Apple is currently trading at $184.9301, up 3.9901 (2.21%).
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