Apple Stock Has 30% Upside Potential, Believes Citigroup Analyst: Says iPhone Maker 'Consistently Gaining Share From Android Phones'

Citigroup has reportedly indicated that Apple Inc AAPL stock has the potential for another 30% rally even after a rally in the iPhone maker's shares that sent the market cap near the $ 3 trillion mark.

Citi analyst Atif Malik started coverage of the stock with a ‘Buy' rating and $240 price target, which is the highest among Wall Street analysts, reported Bloomberg. Apple stock closed 0.18% higher on Thursday at $189.59 and has gained over 51% since the beginning of 2023.

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Malik wrote the Street is underestimating the potential for continued gross margin expansion at Apple, led by a shift toward higher-end iPhones, coupled with further market share gains in China and India. The analyst added that the company is "navigating the macro slowdown and inflationary pressure on consumer spending by consistently gaining share from Android phones," according to the report.

Apple has a significant number of buy calls from analysts. Sixty-eight percent of analysts tracked by Bloomberg have a buy call on the stock, although this is lower compared to some of the well-known tech names. Microsoft Corp MSFT and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL have buy ratings from over 85% of analysts while retail giant Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN has buy ratings from close to 94% of analysts, the Bloomberg report said.

Major Call: Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, who has an ‘Outperform' rating on Apple with a $220 price target, has a bull case of a $ 4 trillion valuation for the company by fiscal year 2025. The Vision Pro and app store could be the first step in Apple's push to build out its generative AI app ecosystem, the analyst said.

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