Apple (AAPL) PT Raised to $160 at Bernstein

Bernstein raised its price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to $160.00 (from $140.00) while maintaining a Outperform rating.

Analyst Toni Sacconaghi Jr. comments "Despite its strong YTD performance, we continue to believe the risk-reward on Apple remains attractive and are raising our price target from $140 to $160. We note that the market has appreciated 6% YTD, the likelihood of low cost tax repatriation has increased substantially, Apple appears committed to continuing to expand its services business (which should command a higher multiple), gross margins fears (at least temporarily) appear to have been mitigated, and the iPhone 8 cycle could be material – all of which support a higher valuation."

Further, he believes $170 would be justified if Apple repatriates some cash to buyback shares.

"Looked at another way, we note that Apple's stock peaked at $132.5 in May 2015 during the iPhone 6 cycle when earnings (FY 15) were $9.22. Our analysis indicates that not only is the market P/FE market today 4% higher, but EPS could be considerably higher in FY 18 (potentially $11.40+, particularly if Apple uses a portion of its repatriated cash to repurchase 10% of its shares)., potentially justifying a share price of ~$170."

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