Why This Analyst Expects Apple To Continue To Trend Higher

After lagging to start the year, Apple Inc AAPL was the best performing FAANG stock last week.

Apple tends to trade seasonally, Raymond James analyst Chris Caso said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." The recent move in Apple is likely due to a combination of underperformance to start the year and the upcoming iPhone launch in September.

Caso told CNBC his firm upgraded Apple in the middle of 2019 on the premise of a strong 5G iPhone cycle. Apple is only about halfway through that cycle, he noted, and he expects Apple to continue to trend higher in the second half of 2021.

See Also: Why This Apple Stock Analyst Says It's Time To Buy

The Raymond James analyst has an Outperform rating and a $185 price target on Apple.

Price Action: Apple has traded as high as $145.09 and as low as $89.14 over a 52-week period.

At last check Thursday, the stock was down 2.14% at $141.48.

Photo: courtesy of Apple.