San Francisco Aug 10 (IANS) Riding on the better-than-expected iPad and iPhone sales the upcoming flagship device iPhone 8 could make the Cupertino-based giant the first company to reach and sustain a $1 trillion market cap analysts have predicted.
According to a report in MarketWatch late on Wednesday since the announcement of its third quarter results the stock momentum has added $56 billion to the company s market cap.
Analysts from investment service company RBC Capital predicted that the stock momentum will continue as Apple will launch its flagship device iPhone 8 in mid-September.
RBC analysts said the iPhone 8 launch will create a super cycle for the company.
"Apple has potential to achieve a $1 trillion dollar market cap and even surpass that over the next 12 to 18 months. We see upside occurring from multiple levers " Amit Daryanani lead analyst on the note was quoted as saying.
Those "levers" to get to $12 per share in profit are revenue increasing from new iPhone models including a higher-priced premium model growing services revenue helping to expand profit margins tighter cost control and strong stock buybacks the analyst said.
Daryanani said that Apple s share price would have to rise from its current level (about $160) to about $192 to $195 depending on the rate of the company s stock buybacks to reach the $1 trillion value.
According to reports Apple might release three iPhones -- iPhone 7S 7S Plus and iPhone 8 -- in September.
With an expected price range of between $900 and $1 100 two of the three iPhones are expected to be more expensive compared with previous versions.
Apple posted a quarterly revenue of $45.4 billion -- up seven per cent YoY (year-over-year) -- for the third quarter of 2017.
With revenue up seven per cent YoY the company reported a third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth and an all-time quarterly record for services revenue.
The net income was up to $8.72 billion ($1.67 per share) from $7.80 billion ($1.42 per share) a year earlier.
iPhone sales were up 1.6 per cent to 41.03 million in the third quarter that ended on July 1.
The Cupertino-based tech giant sold 40.4 million iPhones a year earlier.
Apple saw a 21.6 per cent jump in the services business - the App Store Apple Pay and iCloud - to $7.27 billion.
We also returned $11.7 billion to investors during the quarter bringing cumulative capital returns under our programme to almost $223 billion the company said.
According to The Verge leading the way was Apple s iPad sales which were up 15 per cent from 2016.
Hardware like the Apple Watch AirPods and Beats headphones were the highlights in the Other Products category.
--IANS
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