This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will soon recover from their post-split decline and head back to new all-time highs.
So says Needham analyst Laura Martin. On Wednesday, Martin reiterated her buy rating on Apple's stock and boosted her price forecast from $112.50 to $140. Her new target represents potential gains for investors of roughly 24% over the stock's current price near $113.
Martin applauded Apple's move to bundle its services. On Tuesday, the company unveiled Apple One, which will allow customers to bundle up to six of its services into one reduced-price subscription. Martin believes the bundle will help Apple take share from its stand-alone competitors.
She also sees Apple's custom-designed chips as another key competitive advantage. She predicts that the gap between Apple and its rivals will widen with each new device it launches, boosting its ability to command higher prices (and, by extension, profits) over time.
Will Apple's stock price hit $140?
Martin's logic is sound. Apple's custom chips should help to further separate its products from the pack, and its new bundle ought to draw more people into its rapidly expanding services ecosystem. Apple's revenue and profits, in turn, could rise sharply, driving its share price higher along the way. Thus, seeing its shares hit $140 in the coming year seems not only possible, but likely, and it could happen faster than many investors currently expect.
This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
