SAN FRANCISCO: Shares in tech bellwether Apple have surged nearly seven percent, helped by a broad Wall Street rebound and an upgraded rating from analysts – and despite the current downgrade in many tech stocks. Commentators say the iPhone maker’s stock was oversold during last week’s coronavirus purge on Wall St and has since been upgraded from “outperform” to “perform”.
Analyst outfit Oppenheimer said the company is more prepared than its competitors to absorb the impact of the global health crisis.
This week’s bounce has been Apple’s largest one-day gain since December 2018. The company relies heavily on China, where the coronavirus has hit production at its factories and kept consumers away from retail shops.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which includes the stocks of many of Apple’s suppliers, rebounded a modest 1.9 percent, helping push the stock to its current high of $278.36.
Optimism about Apple’s increasing focus on recurring revenues from music, videogames and video services have pushed its stock up 66 percent over the past year.
Recent remarks by investment king Warren Buffett that Apple is “probably the best business I know in the world“, haven’t done the company’s share price any harm. Buffett also recently traded his ageing flip-phone for an iPhone.
