Georges Yared, at BloggingStocks, believes that Apple is fast becoming a business school case study as they execute flawlessly. He believes this is the last chance to by Apple stock for less than US$175.00.
"Currently Apple is at $171 and this may be your last chance to buy it below $175. Apple finished its fiscal year 2007 with incredible numbers, margins, and more importantly, momentum, entering the new fiscal year," Mr. Yared wrote. "The Mac [product] sold 2.16 million units in the quarter ending in September, and the December quarter will only see upside to that number."
Mr. Yared cited the Apple revenue model for the iPhone, the debut of the iPhone in Europe, and the fact that Apple is approching 3 billion songs sold on iTunes. He also believes that demand for the iPhone is not nearly saturated as many customers are purchasing their second and third units and that the market potential is one billion units. (Apple has sold 120 million iPods to date.)
"Itis still in the second or third inning of a nine-inning game," Mr. Yared wrote regarding the iPod. "iPhone is still taking batting practice."
Appleis ability to obtain favorable pricing at the component level was also cited, and he expects Apple to earn $5.10 per share in fiscal 2008. (Apple has 875 million shares outstanding.)
Mr. Yared, the CIO of Yared Investment Research, has set his target price of AAPL at US$225.
In late afternoon trading on Monday, AAPL was at $175.54, up $4.00.
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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.