Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) neared a $4T valuation on Monday, as investor confidence in the company has been renewed amid strong demand for the iPhone 17.
Shares have risen 8% year-to-date, compared to 14.9% for the S&P 500 and 19.4% for the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
On Monday, the Tim Cook-led company received positive comments from a pair of Wall Street firms, Loop Capital and Evercore ISI, amid strong demand for the iPhone 17. Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah upgraded Apple to Buy from Hold and raised his price target to $315 from $226, while Evercore ISI added Apple to its Tactical Outperform List. The firm reiterated its Outperform rating and $290 price target.
The iPhone accounts for nearly half of Apple’s total revenue.
Separately, on Monday, Counterpoint Research said the iPhone 17 series has outsold the iPhone 16 series by 14% in its first 10 days of availability in both the U.S. and China. The research firm noted the base model of the iPhone 17 has been the “major driver,” as sell-out data is up by nearly 33% over the iPhone 16. Delving deeper, Counterpoint added that Chinese consumers have favored the base model iPhone 17.
Conversely, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has been the biggest seller in the U.S., due in part to strong subsidies from AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
The iPhone Air, which received a lot of media and analyst attention at last month’s unveiling, has performed better than the iPhone 16 Plus, even if some data points in the U.S. are mixed.
Last week, Chinese news outlet South China Morning Post reported that the iPhone Air had sold out “within minutes” in the Asian country after it received approval.
Apple is set to report its most recent quarterly results on Oct. 30 after the close of trading. A consensus of analysts expect it to earn $1.76 per share on $101.71B in revenue.