Apple Shares Hit New High, Company Inches Closer to $1 Trillion Cap

Apple shares have jumped to a new record high based on anticipation of strong demand for the company’s iPhone X, due to launch this Friday.

The company’s shares were up by 2.1 percent on Monday morning, marking the first new intraday record since September. The iPhone X became available for pre-order on Friday, Oct. 27 — and Apple boasts that it saw “off the charts” demand for its first OLED handset.

In the wake of pre-order demand, shipment times for the new phone have already been pushed into December, CNBC reported.

This week will likely be a pivotal moment that will decide Apple’s fiscal future. Indeed, the launch of the iPhone X will likely be the cornerstone of Apple’s bid to prove to investors that it can be the world’s first $1 trillion tech company.

Apple stocks closed at $166.72 a share on Monday afternoon, putting the company at a market cap of about $861 billion. That leaves the company with about $140 billion to gain before it can surpass the $1 trillion milestone — though that is something particularly bullish analysts are already predicting.

Although the iPhone 8 launched to relatively soft demand, it suggested that anticipation was building for the iPhone X and that many consumers were still holding out for the revolutionary new handset.

According to Daniel Ives of GBH Insights, the iPhone X could turn out to be a “game changer” that spurs the long-fabled “upgrade supercycle” for Apple. As Ives pointed out, the last time the market has seen this much pent-up base demand was around the iPhone 6 launch. Of course, that device became a critical success for Apple.

And if GBH Insight’s model turns out to be accurate, Apple could see its stock price rise to $175 through the next 18 months. In a “bull case,” Apple’s shares could jump to $230 by 2018. That would bring its market cap well past $1 trillion.

That’s assuming that the iPhone X is well-received, particularly in China. If Apple manages to attract middle-class and wealthy consumers in the country, it could bypass the “sticker shock” that the iPhone X might have on Chinese consumers. Even now, Apple is seeing iPhone growth in China — an extremely competitive yet critically important market for smartphones.

GBH Insights isn’t the only firm on Wall Street predicting a $1 trillion market cap for Apple, either. Back in July, Brian White at Drexel Hamilton forecasted an Apple stock price of $202 within 12 months. Renowned investor Warren Buffett is also among those with a $1 trillion target for Apple.

The iPhone X will ship out to consumers and hit store shelves this Friday. But if demand for the device is indeed as strong as Apple says, it could present a problem due to the device’s constrained supply. Reportedly, supplies of the OLED handset won’t catch up to demand until early next year.