Monday, May 5,2008 @ 1:40pm
AAPL downgrade reversed, marketcap grows to 4x Dell's
American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has reversed a prior downgrade on share's of Apple Inc, changing his rating on the stock to from Neutral to Buy. Wu's downgrade came right before Apple's blowout March quarter, in which the company announced record revenues on surging Mac sales. Barrons quotes Wu: "We overestimated the potential negative reaction on the quarter and in hindsight should have moderated our near-term posture rather than downgrading. While AAPL shares will likely remain volatile and may offer a better entry point, we need to align our rating with our longer term view on fundamentals." Wu has set a $210 price target on Apple's stock. Barrons also notes that RBC Capital's Mike Abramsky has raised his target price on Apple to $220 from $200, predicting that Apple will sell 14 million iPhones this year.
In related news, Apple's valuation is now more than quadruple Dell's. Apple's shares are currently trading up $3.35 or 1.85 percent to $184.29, yielding a market capitilization of $162.4 billion, while Dell howevers at abou $19 per share yielding a market capitilization of $39.13 billion.