Apple stock has soared 59 percent over the past year amid surging iPhone sales, and the party isn't over by any means, says Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes.
He tells
CNBC the shares can reach $150, which would represent a 23 percent gain from $122 Tuesday afternoon.
Strong free cash flow will spark the move, Reitzes said. Free cash flow totaled $30.46 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 27. That exceeded analysts' expectations by about 40 percent, he said.
"Free cash flow is what, in my training, pushes a stock and really moves it. That's what you get to reinvest in the business, buy other companies and ultimately return cash to shareholders," he explains.
"I think that the free cash flow you're seeing at apple is mind blowing and I know the quarter was impressive but the free cash flow is going to hit people on a delay, especially into a big, big new buyback program."
As for the iPhone, it is "really beating Android to the punch, and that changes the game completely," Reitzes notes.
He also likes Apple's valuation. It has a "staggering" 12 percent enterprise value-to-cash flow yield, Reitzes states. That makes the company cheaper than Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and "anybody [else] in the mega cap range."
Morningstar analyst Brian Colello puts Apple's fair value at $120. He's positive on the company but with caveats.
"We believe Apple's strength lies in its experience and expertise in integrating hardware, software, services, and third-party applications into differentiated devices that allow Apple to capture a premium on hardware sales," he writes on Morningstar.com.
"Although Apple has a sterling brand, strong product pipeline, and ample opportunity to gain share in its various end markets, short product life cycles and intense competition will prevent the firm from resting on its laurels, or carving out a wide economic moat, in our opinion."
© 2025 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.