Tech giant Apple (AAPL Get Apple Inc. (AAPL) Report on Wednesday received a price target upgrade from analysts at Baird ahead of a potential solid iPhone upgrade opportunity.
Baird raised its price target on Apple to $170 a share from $160 while maintaining its outperform rating.
"We continue to view [the] shares as attractive for long-term-oriented investors and are raising our target price to $170," wrote Baird analysts William V. Power and Charles Erlikh in a note to clients.
Apple will hold its annual product event -- dubbed "California Streaming" -- on Tuesday, Sept. 14, at its campus in Cupertino, Calif., starting at 10 a.m. U.S. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern).
Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone 13 series, as well as the series 7 of its AppleWatch, both of which will leverage 5G connectivity
"Our $170 target price is based on 29 times our [calendar year] 2022 earnings per share forecast," the analysts added.
"That puts it well above its historical average, as well as the S&P 500 at 22 times, reflecting benefits from WFA visibility, growing services contribution and continued ecosystem benefits."
Apple's services revenue of $53.8 billion in fiscal 2020 grew 16% year-on-year and is expected to double over the next four years.
Key drivers include service revenue from the App Store, Apple Music and services like Apple Pay and iCloud. In fiscal 2020, paid subscriptions across all services offerings grew to 585 million.
What to Expect at Apple's September 14 Event
"Apple Watch continues to grow rapidly, and with AirPods and Beats products performing well, Apple appears to be positioning the wearables segment as a larger opportunity," the investment firm noted.
In the fiscal 2021 second quarter Apple added $90 billion to its buyback authorization and raised its dividend by 7%.
Shares of the company at last check fell 1.3% to $154.62.
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