We all may have started 2011 with a New Year’s resolution, but Apple seems to have found the best way to get started on the right foot. The Cupertino, Calif. company gained $6 billion in value on the first business day of 2011, pushing the iPhone maker to a market capitalization of $302.32 billion.
Monday, investors rewarded Apple for its long string of popular electronic gadgets with a 2 percent jump in the stock’s price at $329.57 per share. If breathing down the neck of Exxon, history’s most profitable company isn’t enough, there’s even better ahead for Apple, if you believe Wall Street analysts.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster Monday told investors he sees Apple’s share price hitting $438 by year’s end – without unveiling another monster hit, like the iPad or the iPhone 4. Instead, the analyst sees a profitable year from the iPad 2 and a CDMA iPhone, both expected to be introduced in early 2011 and both seen as expanding the market for Cupertino’s devices.
In December, MarketWatch named Apple’s Steve Jobs “CEO of the Decade,” saying he was responsible for “the greatest comeback story of all time.” This just two months after Apple passed Microsoft in terms of company worth.
Apple is expected to release quarterly revenue figures later this month.
