By Steve Schaefer, Forbes
Apple’s AAPL +0.39% stock posted modest gains Wednesday morning amid a sluggish session for the broader market, continuing a recent advance that has pushed shares above $640 apiece for the first time since October 2012.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo from Forbes.
Shares climbed 0.7% to $642.28, slightly below the $644.17 52-week high from May 30 and outpacing slim gains from the major averages. The latest move higher comes on the heels of Monday’s keynote presentation from the Worldwide Developers Conference, where Chairman and CEO Tim Cook and software chief Craig Federighi unveiled the latest versions of the company’s desktop and mobile operating systems with a significant focus on personal healthcare and connectivity between apps. (See “Apple’s Big Innovation At WWDC.”)
Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley suggested in a note to clients that the new initiatives and Apple’s recent $3 billion purchsae of Beats “should drive increased iOS product sales and…strengthen the stickiness of the iOS ecosystem among its loyal consumers.”
Nomura’s Stuart Jeffrey wrote that the incremental changes announced Monday show a company “keeping its tinder dry” for the forthcoming release of the next-generation of iPhones and iPads, presumably in the fall. Jeffrey’s neutral take on the stock stems from his expectation that iPhone 6 anticipation may portend a strong replacement cycle but also one likely to result in challenging year-over-year comparisons in 2015.
With its latest gains Apple is up 14.4% on the year, outperforming the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average.
Read the full article by Steve Schaefer from Forbes.
