Apple (AAPL.O) shares jumped 4.4% Wednesday after the company said sales in China had improved and several brokerages predicted a boost from its service business and the launch of a new iPhone in the second half of this year, easing tensions on Wall Street.
If it keeps rising, Apple's market capitalization will again approach the $1 trillion barrier, second only to Microsoft (MSFT.O), the world's largest company by market capitalization. At the end of the last quarter, Apple had 4.53 billion shares in circulation.
In a profit report released after Tuesday's session, Apple said service revenue grew by 12.6% to $11.5 billion in the third quarter, offsetting a 12% to $26 billion drop in global iPhone sales.
"We are particularly pleased that strong growth in China's App Store has led to double-digit growth in service revenue," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a conference call after the announcement of earnings.
Samik Chatterjee, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, rated the stock as "Overweight" and said he believed that the transformation of Apple's services business and the strong product cycle provided a good reason to hold the stock.
At least 11 of the 43 brokerages that rated Apple's shares raised their target share price, and Citigroup increased sharply by $45 to $250. The current median stock price target given by the brokerage is $217.
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