--Apple surges back above $600 following blowout quarterly
results
--Apple posts biggest one-day percentage rise since November
2008
--Wall Street analysts help fuel gains by lifting price
targets
(Updates with closing prices and other price details.)
By Tomi Kilgore and Matt Jarzemsky
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rallied more
than it had in three and a half years to close back above $600
Wednesday as Wall Street applauded the technology bellwether's
strong quarterly results.
The stock closed up $49.72, or 8.9%, to $610, recovering much of
what it had lost over the previous 11 sessions. That marked the
biggest one-day point gain in its history, and the largest
percentage gain since Nov. 24, 2008.
The stock retraced 65% of the decline from its April 9 all-time
closing high of $636.23. Ahead of the earnings report, Tuesday's
close of $560.28 was a six-week low.
A host of Wall Street analysts helped fuel the gains by
suggesting the shares still have a lot further to rally.
Goldman Sachs bumped up its price target on Apple to $850 from
$750, Wedbush Morgan lifted its target to $800 from $570 and
Canaccord Genuity raised its target to $775 from $740.
J.P. Morgan said "Apple remains in a league of its own," while
analysts at Gabelli & Co. said Apple's valuation "remains very
compelling."
Apple's rise far outpaced its peers', and the rally had a
notable impact on the broader market. The stock's heavy weighting
contributed 27.2% of the S&P 500-stock index's overall gain on
Wednesday, by far the biggest one-day contribution a single stock
has ever had on the index, according to Standard & Poor's
senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.
The S&P 500 advanced 18.72 points, or 1.4%, to 1390.69
Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which
doesn't include Apple as a component, rose 89.16 points, or 0.7%,
to 13090.72.
Shares of Apple suppliers also rose Wednesday. Chip maker
OmniVision Technologies Inc. (OVTI) gained 8.8%, Cirrus Logic
(CRUS) climbed 11% and Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) rose 5.7%.
Ahead of Apple's results, investors had grown increasingly
worried that iPhone sales might disappoint, as carriers Verizon
Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T) reported
year-over-year iPhone sales declines.
But Apple said after Tuesday's close that it sold 35.1 million
iPhone units last quarter, well above expectations of about 30
million. Earnings rose 94% from year-ago levels to $11.62 billion,
or $12.30 a share, on revenue growth of 59% to $39.19 billion.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research on average had been
expecting earnings of $10.16 a share on revenue of $36.96
billion.
Dave Rolfe, chief investment officer at Wedgewood Partners, said
it was a "classic dominant Apple quarter."
"The only chink in the armor, which is really not a chink at
all, iPad numbers came in in-line," Rolfe said.
-By Tomi Kilgore and Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2470; tomi.kilgore@dowjones.com