Apple Shares Shine On

Like much of tech, Apple (AAPL) shares have been on a tear the past few months, and with holiday shoppers feverishly snapping up more Macs and iPods, the company's stock looks like a sure bet to cross the $100 mark.

Bullish analysts have been raising targets and repeating their buy calls, even as shares are resetting 52-week highs. Since Apple last delivered its quarterly numbers on Oct. 18, the stock has shot up more than 23%. Shares closed Thursday at $91.66.

Analysts are enthusiastically expecting continued share-gains for the Mac computer, strong iPod sales over the holidays and a slew of new products in 2007, some of which will debut in early January at Macworld -- the Apple faithful's annual lovefest.

That could likely mean another leg up beyond $100 for investors.

"The stock's likely going to continue to work," says Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, which doesn't own Apple shares. "I would not be surprised to see the stock continue to see upside into January."

UBS analyst Benjamin Reitzes upped his price target to $108 from $95 on Tuesday, "given higher estimates and higher conviction in new product releases in 2007."

Interestingly, despite the stock having doubled in just over a year, by historical standards the shares are still relatively cheap. As of Thursday's close, Apple was trading at 33.6 times the forward 12-month Thomson First Call consensus earnings estimate. According to Richard Stice, an equity analyst with Standard & Poor's, the P/E ratio has averaged 42.2 on a monthly basis over the past two years.

And with solid near-term growth prospects ahead, valuation seems like a slighter concern.