Apple (AAPL) -) the stock is trading in the vicinity of its record, hovering at $195 a share against its closing high of $196.45, set on July 31.
The stock accelerated back beyond a $3 trillion market cap last week, the first time since an August slip that Apple crossed the $3 trillion mark.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives sees room for even more Apple upside.
Related: Wedbush's Dan Ives says Apple's market cap is about to shoot up
Boosting his price target to $250 from $240 in a Sunday note, Ives said that a boost in iPhone sales could be a boon to the stock.
“With roughly 240 million iPhones in the window of an upgrade opportunity globally now at play for iPhone 15 and Services reaccelerating into [fiscal 2024], we view this as the golden opportunity to own Apple for the next year,” he wrote.
Ives's assumption centers on Apple beating Wall Street expectations of 220 million to 230 million iPhone deliveries for the year.
Ives added in a post on X that he believed Apple would be the first company to cross a $4 trillion market cap. He estimates that move by the end of 2024, "given the pace of growth and monetization for Cupertino."
The company is one of Ives' "favorite tech names."
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring last week boosted his own Apple price target to $220 from $210, noting a reduction in near-term risks and growing excitement around "edge AI" to reignite the "bull case."
Ives's latest upgrade on Apple has made him the most bullish Apple analyst out there — the average analyst price target, according to TipRanks, is $202.32, with a high of $240 and a low of $150.
Indeed, not all analysts are quite so bullish on the stock.
D.A. Davidson Senior Software Analyst Gil Luria told CNBC Monday that updated iPhones don't feature the kinds of improvements that would compel a user to upgrade "ahead of a phone breaking."
"Making the slight incremental improvements we've seen to the iPhone aren't going to create the kind of growth Apple's stock needs to go up further," Luria said.
The stock, he said, is trading at a high multiple for a company that is "eking out growth from its current products."
Though the Apple ecosystem, through its services offerings, is "doing great," Luria said that for the stock to continue to grow, Apple needs to introduce "very compelling changes to its existing products or new products that can extend the hardware reach."
Bloomberg reported Dec. 8 that Tang Tan, the Apple executive in charge of product design for the iPhone and the Apple Watch, would be leaving the company in February.
Related: Apple Wants to Crash ChatGPT's Party -- Here's Why It Might Succeed
Tired of the investing maze? We’ve got the map. Thousands of stocks? Forget them. We zero in on the winners – and we’ll let you in on the secret. Our pros are sharing their top picks NOW. Missed out on the last one? Don’t make that mistake again. Join us today
