Apple Soars to $1.3 Trillion Market Cap

Apple has surpassed $1.3 trillion market valuation after company shares reached $290.82 in after-hours trading.

This is the highest market cap of the Cupertino-based tech giant after it exceeded $1 trillion valuation in September following the release of the iPhone 11 generation.

AAPL was valued at $289.911 at market close on December 26.

$350 price target

Apple stock is expected to continue growing in the coming months, especially throughout 2020 when the company is projected to unveil a new lineup of iPhones featuring 5G connectivity.

Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities managing director, said in an interview with Bloomberg that this push for 5G support on the iPhone could propel AAPL price to $350 next year.

And it all comes down to the supercycle, Ives explains, as a significant number of existing iPhone owners could upgrade their devices to new-generation models in 2020.

“It really comes down to the math. 900 million iPhones worldwide, about a third of those, 350 million, have not upgraded in 39 months. I think we are going into a supercycle, 5G is going to be on the tail end of that. I think $350 is best case,” Ives explains.

“In terms of suppliers, all indications are that’s going to be a real strong product cycle. There could be speed bumps, and I think we’ll of course hit those in the given quarter going to 2020,” he continued.

In addition to the three iPhone models projected to launch in September 2020, Apple is also expected to take the wraps off a more affordable iPhone in the spring.

This device will land as a second-generation iPhone SE and is likely to come with a $399 price tag. However, 5G won’t be offered on this smaller iPhone, as the whole purpose is to keep the price down and allow Apple to compete with mid-range Android devices more effectively in emerging markets.