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Apple (AAPL) stock rose Monday after the consumer electronics giant received several positive analyst reports. Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah upgraded Apple stock to buy from hold and raised his price target to 315 from 226. Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani added Apple stock to his firm's "tactical outperform list." He rates Apple as outperform with a price target of 290. Further, Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes kept his buy rating on Apple stock and raised his price target to 290 from 260 on Monday. Apple will benefit from price hikes to key models of the new iPhones, Reitzes said in a client note. Plus, improvements with the new AirPods Pro should drive the wearables business, he said. In midday trades on the stock market today, Apple stock surged more than 4% to 263.03. In intraday trading, it notched an all-time high of 264.38. With the move higher, Apple stock broke out of a 42-week consolidation pattern with a buy point of 260.10, according to IBD MarketSurge charts. The 5% buy zone runs to 273.10, based on IBD trading principles. Apple appears to be at the "front end" of a "long-anticipated (iPhone) upgrade cycle," Loop Capital's Baruah said in a client note Monday. He sees the cycle lasting through 2027, which would include a foldable iPhone next year and a 20th anniversary iPhone in 2027. A month after its debut, the iPhone 17 series handsets are selling "far better than anticipated," Baruah said. Apple Stock Riding Upgrade Cycle Evercore's Daryanani said Apple is "well positioned to report upside" with its September-quarter results and guidance on Oct. 30. "Our positive bias is driven by iPhone data points that suggest this may be more than the average iPhone refresh cycle, as lead times for the base iPhone 17 are above last year's October levels," Daryanani said in a report Sunday. "In addition, our survey work points to a strong demand environment, with a higher-than-average number of respondents indicating that they plan to purchase a new iPhone this year." Meanwhile, Counterpoint Research said the iPhone 17 series 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 that 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. However, other analysts remain cautious on Apple stock. Jefferies analyst Edison Lee reiterated his underperform rating on Apple stock on Sunday. In a client note, Lee said data on lead times for iPhone 17 orders worldwide seem to be "cooling off." Apple stock is on the IBD Tech Leaders list. Follow Patrick Seitz on X at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Adobe Launches Company-Specific Generative AI Models PC Sales Perk Up As Microsoft Retires Windows 10 Operating System Discover Profitable Trades Each Day With MarketDiem. See How. Find Winning Stocks With MarketSurge Pattern Recognition & Custom Screens
