Apple Shares Hit Record High: What The Street Is Saying

After a sluggish first half of 2021, Apple Inc. AAPL shares are slowly and steadily picking up momentum.

Since the start of July, the stock has gained over 6% and is perched at a record high.

Why JPMorgan Is Bullish On Apple: JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee, who last week recommended accumulating more Apple shares, added the stock to the firm's analyst focus list as a growth idea on Wednesday.

After upping the price target by $5 to $170 July 6, Chatterjee boosted it by a similar magnitude to $175. The shares remain poised to see another 20% upside by the year end, he said. 

The analyst attributed his positive opinion to an upward revision to iPhone build estimates by Apple supply chain analyst William Yang and strong Mac device sales.

Similar sentiment regarding the Mac was earlier expressed by famed Apple analyst Gene Munster, who said the lead times for Mac and iPad suggest demand is still outpacing supply, exiting the June quarter.

"While the above drivers lead to an increase in our near-term forecasts, the recent momentum led by better market share, drives us to also estimate higher sustainable volumes in future quarters," Chatterjee said. 

JPMorgan now sees a path to Apple outperforming investor expectations over a longer-term horizon, rather than just the upcoming earnings print.

The firm has an Overweight rating on Apple shares.

Related Link: Apple iPad, Mac Have 'Positive Demand Tailwind': Gene Munster

iPhone Optimism Carries Stock: Following a strong launch of the 5G-enabled iPhone 12 series, expectations were muted regarding the uptake of the next iteration.

Various reports now point toward a fairly robust demand scenario for iPhone 13. As early as March, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said the firm's Asia checks revealed initial iPhone 13 builds of 100-million-unit range compared to the initial iPhone 12 builds of 80 million units.

In late May, reports suggested Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.TSM had begun manufacturing Apple's proprietary A15 bionic chip meant for the iPhone 13. Later in June, Digitimes reported that Apple suppliers, including TSMC, Genesys Logic and Parade Technologies, are all scaling up to meet order demand from Apple in the third quarter.

A Bloomberg report now suggests Apple expects 90 million units of the iPhone 13 to be shipped in 2021, a 20% increase from 2020.

At last check, Apple shares were rising by 2.4% to $149.13. 

Related Link: Why This Apple Stock Analyst Says It's Time To Buy