Analyst: Apple On Track for $1 Trillion Market Cap

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster thinks Apple’s stock could hit the US$1,000 mark in the next two years and bring a $1 trillion market cap with it. He also raised his current target price for the company’s stock from $718 up to $910.

Apple on it's way to top $1,000 a share“We believe shares of AAPL will reach $1,000 in CY14, which would imply a roughly 1 trillion dollar market cap, the first in history,” Mr. Munster said, according to Barrons.

The $400 billion Apple needs to gain to hit the trillion mark needs to come from somewhere, and Mr. Munster says that will bleed off from the company’s competitors.

“The companies we consider to be the ten most relevant competitors to Apple (Samsung, HTC, RIMM, NOK, SNE, DELL, HP, MSFT, INTC, GOOG) represent nearly $1 trillion in market cap today,” he said. “We believe 20 percent of that value, or about $200 billion could shift to Apple through 2014. Thus there is potential for Apple to repeat history and add another $400 billion to its market cap.”

Topeka Capital Markets started following Apple on Monday with a $1001 target price, which also happens to be the first time a financial analyst set the company’s target price over the $1,000 mark.

“Driven by an ever expanding portfolio of innovative products, a growing integrated digital grid, unmatched aesthetics and a brand that is able to touch the soul of consumers of all backgrounds, Apple fever is spreading like a wildfire around the world and we see no end in sight to this trend,” Topeka Capital’s Brian White said. “As such, we believe the Apple story still has a long way to play out in the coming years and we expect the next 12 to 18 months to be particularly exciting for the Company on multiple fronts.”

Looking forward, Mr. Munster expects Apple to release new products that help boost its value, including an iPad model with a smaller display. He also sees the smartphone market “boiling down to essentially two players at scale: Apple and Samsung.”

Mr. Munster still sees an Apple-branded television as a possibility, too. He expects that Apple’s television could add $4 a share to his 2015 estimate for about $80 in net profit, which would push the company’s stock up over $1,100.

Apple is currently trading at $629.75, up 11.12 (1.80%).