The Royal Bank of Canada is tipping US tech giant Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) to become the first company with a market value of US$1trn. Well, almost.
In an initiation note published on Wednesday, analysts at the Bank reckon Apple shares are worth a cool US$193 each, which would value the California-based company at roughly US$997bn.
The firm – headed up by Tim Cook – is set to launch its latest, and supposedly greatest, smartphone ever next month with the release of the iPhone X, and RBS reckons there will be a large and loyal user who “can’t wait” to splash more than US$1,000 on the handsets.
As for how they came up with their price target, Steven Pelayo and co said they tried to take a unique look at Apple using the company’s own slogan, ‘think different’.
They argue that Apple is more than just a tech company in that it competes with luxury brands for talent, wallet share and locations.
The telecoms team argues that the US is still a key market for the firm and that new technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and foldable phones (haven’t we been there before?) will continue to drive demand.
"We believe emerging market growth (e.g. India has 1.3bnn people yet only 110mln smartphones shipped last year) will continue to drive units," added Pelayo.
"However we believe innovation is still alive and new technologies such as dual camera/3D sensors, OLED displays, foldable screens, AI, AR, and 5G should allow at least flattish growth in highly penetrated or 'replacement' markets, including China."
Apple shares were broadly flat at US$157 in early deals on Wednesday.