Apple Inc. (AAPL) Gets On Barclays’ ‘Favorite’ List

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is yet again stealing the show as Barclays Capital shifts its sentiment to bullish towards the iPhone maker. On Monday, Apple’s stock appreciated by 1.29%, reflecting a broader movement in the technology space. CNBC reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) played a significant role in Monday’s tech rally after Barclays changed its outlook from ‘Equalweight’ to ‘Overweight.’

A Forbes report highlighted that the research firm, even went on to compare Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) with the tech peer, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), ahead of the launch of its iPhone 6. Barclays analysts, led by, Ben Reitzes, appeared appreciative of the Apple’s recent strategy shift. The report stated, that Tim Cook “has solidified his strategy and re-gained the confidence of Apple stakeholders in many ways — reversing many of the warning signs we saw earlier this year.”

Consequently, the research firm has raised the price target from $95 to $100. The upgrade from Barclays is essentially a big positive factor for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the research firm had cut down its outlook on the stock this February after raising several red flags.

In addition to this, Reitzes also placed competition as another important factor decisive of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s success. Therefore, in view of Samsung’s recent string of problems, Reitzes strongly believes that Apple will get ample opportunity ahead, prompting him to raise his June quarter earnings estimate to $1.24 per share and revenue forecast to $38.33 billion. Both the figures are well ahead of the market projections.

In the meanwhile, it is not just Barclays, which has boosted the sentiments for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), but Pacific Crest too has released a report indicating that the iPhone 6 launch could help many other companies. For instance, Pacific Crest noted that InvenSenseInc (NYSE:INVN), which is focused on motion processing technology in Smartwatch and tablets will benefit from the iPhone and iWatch rollout. Also, the research firm said that NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) is positioned to harness the benefits from the iPhone momentum.

Disclosure: none