A Wall Street analyst on Monday said next year's 5G iPhone is likely to kick off a "supercycle" of upgrade activity. Apple stock jumped to another record high as hype continues for the company's expected 5G smartphones.
XWedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives reiterated his outperform rating on Apple (AAPL) and raised his price target to 350 from 325.
On the stock market today, Apple stock rose 1.6% to 284. Earlier in the session, it hit an all-time high of 284.25. That is its eighth record high in the last 12 trading days.
Apple stock has been on a tear since it broke out of a flat base at a buy point of 221.47 on Sept. 11. It is now trading well past the 20%-25% profit-taking zone, according to IBD MarketSmith charts.
Apple Stock Catalysts: iPhone, AirPods Sales
The family of 5G smartphones Apple is likely to unveil next September "will open up the floodgates on iPhone upgrades across the board that the Street continues to underestimate," Ives said in a note to clients.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple will launch at least five new iPhone versions in 2020, Ives said. The 5G iPhones will be "the main event."
"We believe 200 million units could be the starting point for 5G Apple smartphone demand," he said. Roughly 350 million iPhones out of the installed base of 900 million are in the window of an upgrade opportunity, Ives said.
In addition to the 5G iPhone supercycle, Apple is likely to see continued growth in services and wearables in 2020, he said.
Near-term catalysts for Apple stock include its holiday sales performance, Ives said. Analyst reports say iPhone 11 handsets, AirPods wireless earbuds and Apple Watch smartwatches have been hot sellers.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor companies.
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