Barclays, JP Morgan raise Apple's price targets

CALIFORNIA, USA: At least five brokerages, including Barclays Capital and JP Morgan Securities, raised their price targets on Apple Inc's stock Tuesday, a day after the iPhone maker announced a slew of new products and price cuts at its Worldwide Developer's Conference.

"New products will stimulate incremental demand," said Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes, raising his price target on the stock to $173 from $155.

"The company's ability to sustain accelerated product refresh cycles and expand to lower price points was noteworthy, and these factors should help keep the stock as a relative outperformer in our coverage list," JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said in a note to clients.

He raised his price target on Apple stock to $155 from $135.

He also said the consumer electronics giant has growth opportunities related to the expanded iPhone portfolio, the refreshed MacBook product line and a potential netbook-like device.

Apple's consumer exposure also could help, as enterprises will be more hesitant in increasing spending whenever the global downturn moderates, Moskowitz added.

Credit Suisse raised its price target on Apple to $165 from from $140.

On Monday, Apple halved the price of its entry-level iPhone, cut prices on several of its Mac notebooks and introduced a new, faster, high-end iPhone that takes videos and has voice features.

Caris & Co analyst Rob Cihra, who raised his price target to $170 from 150, said he continues to see Apple's iPhone shaking up the entire billion-unit cell phone industry by shifting competition to software versus hardware.

Susquehanna Financial Group raised its price target on the stock to $170 from $155, expecting the moves to result in the company getting increased market share.

Apple shares, which have gained over 60 percent in the last three months, were down $1.19 at $142.66 in afternoon trade on Nasdaq.