By
Godfrey Benjamin
March 22nd, 2024
As a result of yesterday’s jump, Apple shares are now up approximately 74.19% year-to-date and around 14% in the past three months.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock jumped 5.01% on Tuesday to close the day trading at $127.88. The tweak was attributed to news that the company plans to scale up iPhone production next year based on increased demand. According to a report by Japan’s Nikkei, Apple could instruct its suppliers to scale up and manufacture as many as 230 million gadgets in 2021. Notably, it is anticipated that up to 96 million iPhones will be produced during the first half of 2021. This would reciprocate to an increase of nearly 30% year-on-year basis.
Incidentally, shares of Foxconn Technology Co Ltd (Taiwan: 2354), a major Apple supplier, jumped 1.73% on Wednesday to trade around NT$52.90. Earlier last month, Foxconn Technology Group said that it expects sales in 2021 to grow by approximately 10%. It further noted that there is a stronger demand for consumer electronics in general, particularly with the iPhone 12 due to the latest upgrades including 5G network capabilities.
Apple (AAPL) Stock Outlook
Typically Apple has been among the top smartphone suppliers for years, but the reduced global smartphone shipments has caused the competition to edge higher. Other smartphone manufacturers including Samsung and Huawei have released several products with the latest technology to compete in the market.
On this basis, Apple cannot afford to relax its marketing strategy including lowering the market prices for most of its products. Mind you, most people have been negatively affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, thus living on a tight budget.
As a result of yesterday’s jump, Apple shares are now up approximately 74.19% year-to-date and around 14% in the past three months.
Apple has a market capitalization of around $2.07 trillion, a market leader not only in the tech industry but also in the market generally. The huge cash reserve puts the company in a better position of planning ahead and capable of delivering on its promises to its shareholders.
Notably, Apple shares received an average of ‘Over’ rating from 40 ratings according to the market data provided by MarketWatch.
Last week, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives lifted his Apple price target on the group by $10 per share, to $160 per share. In addition, Ives noted that Apple shares are likely to rally up to $200 per share in the near future. According to him, there is a huge demand for the latest iPhone both in the United States and China. He further highlighted that Apple’s iPhone 12 could approach the 80 million to 85 million unit level by next year, having previously reported a forecast of between 65 million and 70 million.