Shares of Apple Inc. rose 0.9% in premarket trade Tuesday, putting it on track to snap a four-session losing streak, after Raymond James raised its price target, and increased expectations for gross margin and average selling prices. Analyst Tavis McCourt maintained its outperform rating and raised his stock price target to $180, which is 19% above current levels, from $170. McCourt said that while a consumer survey and feedback from sources in Asia suggest the new iPhone X won’t launch a new “supercycle,” it will boost average selling prices by about 10%, and expand gross margin by about 2 percentage points. He doesn’t expect earnings and revenue growth to peak until sometime during the first half of 2018, so he views the recent pullback in the stock “as a trading opportunity.” The stock had closed Monday at an 8-week low, after falling 5.2% over the past four sessions, 6.8% since Apple’s product event. It has still climbed 30% year to date through Monday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has rallied 21% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 13%.
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