Analysts Run the Apple Asylum — Tuesday’s IP Market Recap

by Kyle Woodley | April 3, 2012 5:25 pm

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL[1]) gained 1.7% on a flat-to-down day for the markets as a number of analyst upgrades trumped up AAPL shares.

Topeka Capital Markets’ Brian White, in a move seemingly predicated to nip a Price Is Right $1 upgrade in the bud, set a $1,001 price target[2] on Apple for the next 12 months, becoming the first Wall Street analyst to set a four-digit target. The attention-grabbing number would represent a more than 60% gain on current prices, and would put Apple’s market cap at around $1 trillion — about 6% of U.S. GDP[3]. Not surprisingly, White gushes about Apple’s product line and growing influence across the world.

Piper Jaffray also toyed with the $1,000 mark, but thought the target was more realistic for 2014. So, for the next 12 months, the firm raised its expectations from $718 to a still immodest $910 per share. Completely outdone was JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM[4]), which raised its target to a mere $715 per share.

Also trying to hitch a ride on the Apple train Tuesday was Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN[5]), a genomics company that recently rejected a bid from Swiss pharma giant Roche (PINK:RHHBY[6]) for $51 per share — a 15% increase on an original rejected bid made in January. The company told shareholders that “Illumina is like the Apple of the genomics business” in a recent letter[7] — and that was the case at least Tuesday, with ILMN also posting 1%-plus gains.

Despite a good March for vehicle sales in the U.S., automakers were having a rough go of things Tuesday. General Motors (NYSE:GM[8]) was down 4.6% after it reported a 12% year-over-year increase in March sales, well shy of analyst expectations for a 19% leap. Meanwhile, Ford (NYSE:F[9]) traded flat amid a slight miss of 5% growth in sales. Most of the other major carmakers were trading flat to slightly down as well.

Three Up

• Dendreon (NASDAQ:DNDN[10]): Up 4.5% (46 cents) to $10.69.
• Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA[11]): Up 3.9% ($1.43) to $38.01.
• Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX[12]): Up 3.9% ($2.17) to $57.67.

Three Down

• Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM[13]): Down 9.5% ($1.36) to $13.01.
• First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR[14]): Down 7.9% ($1.93) to $22.60.
• Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN[15]): Down 7.6% ($1.20) to $14.56.

Kyle Woodley[16] is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com[17]. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here[18].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/04/analysts-run-the-apple-asylum-tuesdays-ip-market-recap/

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