Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) reached a new 52-week high of $95.99 on Jul 7, 2014. The bullish run reflects the growing anticipation for the iWatch as well as the positive outlook for iPhone 6.

The closing price of Apple on Jul 7 was $95.97, representing a strong one-year return of about 61.9% and a year-to-date return of about 21.5%. The S&P 500 jumped 20.6% and 8.0%, respectively, during the same period. Average volume of shares traded over the last three months stands at approximately 66.426K.

Apple delivered a positive average earnings surprise of 6.0% over the past four quarters. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has a market cap of $567.0 billion and a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 12.8%.

Key Growth Catalysts

Apple is rumored to launch its much-awaited iWatch in Oct 2014. Per sources, the company expects to ship about 50 million units within the first year from its date of release.

Per The Wall Street Journal, iWatch may come in multiple designs. It is believed that Apple may use different screen sizes to cater to a large demography (price-wise) as well as to diverse wrist sizes, thereby expanding its user base. The device will include more than 10 sensors to monitor health and fitness related data.

iWatch’s close integration with Apple’s recently announced HealthKit data storage platform has further fueled the rumors. Per the website, iWatch’s biometric sensors will allow users to measure heart rate, blood pressure and blood glucose. The in-built sensors can also perform sweat analysis.

The upcoming iPhone 6 is also expected to drive growth for the company. Recently, Apple has shown some resurgence based on its expanded capital program, 7:1 stock split, new OS X Yosemite, iOS 8 and HealthKit. We believe that successful iWatch and iPhone 6 launches will further boost the shares in the near term.

Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2014 has increased a couple of cents to $6.30 per share over the past 30 days. The earnings estimate for fiscal 2015 has also increased a couple of cents to $6.89 over the same period.

Other Stocks to Consider

Other better-ranked stocks in the technology sector are Intel Corp (INTC), Citrix Systems (CTXS) and Autodesk Inc (ADSK). All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Read the Full Research Report on INTC
Read the Full Research Report on AAPL
Read the Full Research Report on CTXS
Read the Full Research Report on ADSK


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