AAPL Stock on Continuous Gains, Rises 4% Ahead of Apple Q1 2021 Earnings Results

Apple (AAPL) Stock Soars Ahead of Profitable Earnings Results

Apple (AAPL) stock has been performing excellently over the past months. The company has sustained increases as it launched new products. According to the data compiled by MarketWatch, Apple has climbed nearly 80% in the last 12 months. The company has also advanced 3.15% in its year-to-date record and jumped by over 18% in the last three months. The data further revealed that AAPL is up 3.71% over the past month and 6.17% in the last five days.

Investment banking company Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) remains bullish on Apple stock, raising its price target on the technology company. On the 21st of January, Morgan Stanley upped its price target for Apple stock from $144 to $152. At the time of writing, Apple is at after-hours trading of $136.39. The current trading price is a gain of 0.35% over its previous close of $136.87.

Led by Katy Huberty, JPMorgan analysts further maintained their “overweight” rating on Apple’s stock. The team referred to the tech space as “attractive” over the coming year. In addition, Morgan Stanley is expecting Apple to record an all-time high in its revenue and profits in the fiscal first-quarter report. The analysts noted that the iPhone 12 lineup should trigger an increase in handset sales, which would eventually fuel a profitable quarterly earnings result. In a statement, Morgan Stanley said:

“Given positioning into the quarter is muted after the rotation out of high-quality stocks over the past several months, we expect strong follow-through post-earnings and are buyers into the print.”

Factors Considered to Fuel Apple Earnings

According to Morgan Stanley analysts, “the iPhone 12 has been Apple’s most successful product launch in the last five years.” The team added that the increasing demand for the newly released 5G-enabled iPhone could cause a spike in Apple quarterly results.

The increasing demand for Mac and iPad is also considered to fuel Apple profit margin ahead of its quarterly results to be released in the coming week. As a result of the lock-down caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in Mac, iPad, and Wearables revenues.

Furthermore, the Morgan Stanley team commented on the increase in computer and consumer electronic sales. Consumer survey data showed that consumer electronic sales climbed nine-month highs in the last quarter. The analysts believe that “they serve as tailwinds” for Mac and iPads.

Apart from Morgan Stanley analysts, other analysts are also maintaining their “buy” rating on Apple stock. On the 21st of January, D.A Davidson analysts Tom Forte and Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White also rated Apple’s stock a “buy.”