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 At least six brokerages raised their price target on Apple's stock
by as much as $16 to a high of $116 on Wednesday, a day after the
launch of the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch - the first new product
introduced by Chief Executive Tim Cook.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said the "star of the show" was
Apple Pay - the company's new wireless payment system.
It will allow iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users to pay for a burger at
McDonald's Corp or groceries at Whole Foods Market Inc at the tap of
a button, using their American Express Co, Visa Inc or Mastercard
Inc bank cards.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Motorola Mobility and others include
similar wireless technology in many Android smartphones. But with
payment systems such as Google's Wallet failing to catch on, the
technology is not standard in handsets.
"On the mobile payments front, we believe the company made a major
breakthrough and cracked an important and vexing issue that has
plagued the industry for several years regarding customer
ownership," William Blair analysts wrote in a note.
Cook, who took over as CEO from Steve Jobs in 2011, has been under
pressure to launch new services and come up with larger-screen
phones to counter Samsung's popular Galaxy Note phablets.
Worldwide market share of iPhones, which contribute more than half
of Apple's revenue, slipped to 11.7 percent for the quarter ended
June from 13 percent a year earlier, according to research firm IDC.
(http://bit.ly/Vqxmts)
"Apple Pay is a feature that should help sell Apple products and
provide some small help to the bottom line," BMO Capital Markets
analysts said.
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Apple Watch, the company's first new product since the iPad, is
tethered to the iPhone 6 models. Starting at $349, it will receive
phone calls and messages, play music and serve as a digital wallet
to pay for goods.
The watch, which will go on sale in the United States next year, has
received mixed reactions. Fashion commentators like its clean
aesthetic, while some tech writers pointed out Apple's silence over
battery life.
Sony Corp, Samsung, LG Electronics Inc and Qualcomm Inc have
launched smartwatches based on Google's Android Wear, without great
success.
Apple shares were trading down 0.6 percent at $97.45 in premarket
trading. They closed down 0.38 percent at $97.99 on the Nasdaq on
Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Lehar Maan in Bangalore; Editing by Robin
Paxton)
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