Cantor Fitzgerald’s Brian White, whose neck was already stuck out further than the rest of the sell-side Apple analysts, stuck it out even further Monday.
His old price target, $160, was the market high. With his new price target, $180, he’s betting that within 12 months Apple’s market capitalization (stock price times number of shares outstanding) will have passed $1 trillion.
To put that number in perspective, the total value of the gold mined in all of history, according to the World Gold Council, is roughly $8.5 trillion.
As White sees it, Apple is firing on all cylinders:
Next month, Apple will enter its first new product category in five years, while media reports over the past several weeks have highlighted potential new areas of future innovation. Also, we believe Apple’s iPhone portfolio and position in China have never been stronger. Finally, Apple has shown its commitment to returning cash to shareholders, and we expect more in April. We believe the combination of these forces will drive the market to reward Apple’s stock.”
Below: Our current spreadsheet of analysts’ 12-month price targets, as up to date as we can make it. Corrections appreciated.
Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter at @philiped. Read his Apple (AAPL) coverage at coins2day.com/ped or subscribe via his RSS feed.