Apple Shares Shine On

Needham analyst Charlie Wolf, who boosted his price target to $115 from $90 on Thursday, noted that previous survey results on rates of Windows-based PC users switching to Macs were conservative.

"Evidence that Windows switchers played an important role in the growth of Mac sales even before the introduction of Boot Camp indicated that our previous assumption -- that no Windows user would switch to a Mac in the absence of its ability to run Windows -- was unrealistic," Wolf wrote. Wolf is long Apple, and his firm makes a market in the company.

Those Mac share-gains also are important, Stice says, when it's likely that iPod sales growth will eventually decline with increased competition, like Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) Zune, in the MP3 player market.

But even that effect isn't likely to happen anytime soon.

"Our checks indicate continued strong demand for Macs and iPod, implying further potential for revenue and EPS upside," Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff wrote in a Wednesday note. "Strong initial uptick and popularity of [the] iPod shuffle could drive iPod unit upside, although lower-end mix could result in lower [average sales price] and mitigate the magnitude of revenue upside."

However, even purchases of the cheaper iPods can pay off for Apple, as it can be a gateway to more spending later, says Think Equity's Jonathan Hoopes.