Wall Street eyes more gains from Apple, its cheapest $1 trillion stock

Shares in Apple Inc edged higher on Friday, bobbing close to the iPhone maker`s $1 trillion valuation milestone, but Wall St was just biding its time for more gains.

After becoming the first $1 trillion publicly-listed U.S. company on Thursday, Apple last traded up 0.4 percent at $208.22 after falling as low as $205.48 and rising as high as $208.74.

Daniel Morgan, portfolio manager at Synovus Trust in Atlanta, said Apple`s lukewarm start on Friday was a temporary pause for the stock rather than a sign it could lose ground.

"It`s like the horse that crosses the finish line and says I`m totally wiped out," said Morgan whose firm holds more than 200,000 shares in Apple.

"There was a strong earnings report on Tuesday. All the enthusiasm around the $1 trillion market capitalization, both those things have just exhausted the current trading in Apple. And it`s Friday. The whole week was engulfed by Apple," he said.

Apple still looks relatively cheap even with a trillion dollar valuation. Its shares trade at less than 16 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months, according to Morgan, who said he would be comfortable with a multiple of 18 or 19 for the stock.

"That`s a reasonable level so I don`t feel there`s any risk that people will say its trading at a $1 trillion lets put the brakes on this ... If it was Amazon or Netflix that were hitting a trillion, then we could have that conversation," he said.

Netflix currently trades at 93.8 times estimates for its earnings in the next 12 months while Amazon`s multiple is 83.74 .

"If Apple trades at 20 times earnings that would be crazy," he said, estimating that Apple shares could go as high as $220 by year-end.

Most sell-side analysts also seemed to see $1 trillion as just one milestone on Apple`s way to greater gains as the median price target for the stock is $218.50 and the mean price target at $215.46, according to data collected by Thomson Reuters.

The highest price expectation for the stock is Brian White`s $275 target, which would mean a $1.3 trillion valuation, according to the analyst from Monness Crespi Hardt, who says he was first on the Street with a price target that reflected a $1-trillion valuation.

Despite the record valuation, White said, "Apple is one of the most under-appreciated stocks in the world."

Trip Miller, managing partner at Gullane Capital LLC in Memphis, said Apple "should trade much higher.”

“They are so dependent on one product for such a huge part of their revenue that I believe that’s why it gets that discount,” said Miller whose firm also owns Amazon shares.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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