AAPL future looks bright

Analyst firm Citigroup today upgraded Apple's stock from hold to buy, despite difficulties with the company's product transitions. Citigroup said that Apple should begin beating earnings estimates again later in the year, and maintained its 12-month price target of $82, according to TheStreet.com. Citigroup expects Apple to unveil Intel-based iBooks as well as a new video iPod as early as April, and that Apple will complete its transition to Intel in August with a new dual-core Power Mac. "We believe the medium- to long-term story remains intact," Citigroup said. "In short, Apple remains one of the best ways to play the digitization of music, photos and video. While Vista may close the gap at the operating system level, Apple will maintain a lead with media management apps and on-line downloads." After contacting numerous U.S. Apple stores the firm discovered that almost none had the MacBook Pro in stock, and most still have waiting lists of between five and 50 people for the 1.83GHz model.

by MacNN Staff