Analyst Predicts Apple Will Become World’s First Trillion-Dollar Company By 2014

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apple-money
It's possible (but unlikely) Tim Cook sleeps on a pile on money like this one.

Apple’s stock price has continued to rise at an incredible rate for months, leading one analyst to predict that its shares will reach $1,000 by 2014, making it the world’s first trillion-dollar company.

Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, has raised his 12-month price target for AAPL stock from $718 to $910. Just beyond that window, he expects it to exceed the $1,000 mark, giving the company a market cap of around $1 trillion.

The iPhone will continue to drive Apple’s growth, as it has done for years, according to Munster, with at least 70% of all two-year-old iPhone owners upgrading to the latest device. “That suggests 33% of iPhones in a given quarter through 2015 are ‘in the bag,'” Munster said. “We believe this is conservative given it expects an average iPhone life of 24 months.”

For the March quarter, the results of which will be announced by Apple on April 24, Munster predicts Apple will record 33 million iPhone sales with an average selling price of $630. That’s a 10% increase over his previous prediction of 30 million sales.

“We believe demand remains strong for the iPhone 4S based on global store checks and momentum from the 3rd-gen iPad launch,” Munster said.

Munster’s prediction comes a day after Brian White, an analyst for Topkea Capital Markets, announced that he expects Apple shares to reach $1,001. He believes it will be boosted by Apple’s entry into the TV market, which is expected to happen with the much-anticipated “iTV” during the next 12 months.

Apple stock may seem pricey now at just over $600, but it’s a bargain if that turns into $1,000 by 2014. It’s pretty incredible for a company that began in a Los Altos garage just over 30 years ago.

[via AppleInsider]

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