Analyst predicts 'Apple stock will hit $1,001 in next 12 months'

Washington, Apr 3 (ANI): Tech giant Apple will see its stock price reach 1,001 dollars within 12 months, an expert has claimed.

Brian White, an analyst with Topeka Capital Markets who authored a report called 'Apple Fever has More to Run,' said if anything the valuation might be too conservative.

"All we're doing is putting a 17 multiple on the earnings for 2013 and then adding back 103.66 dollars cash," The Los Angeles Times quoted White, as saying.

"I think it's a conservative number. For most of its history Apple's growth rate was 86 percent a year," he added.

White said in the report that he still sees a lot of growth potential in the company.

He has especially high expectations for the iPhone 5, which is rumored to run 4G and maybe even have a bigger screen, and may hit the market as early as June.

"We believe the Apple story still has a long way to play out in the coming years and we expect the next 12-18 months to be particularly exciting for the company on multiple fronts," White said.

"We strongly believe Apple will become the first trillion dollar market capitalization company in the world," he added.

White pointed out that there are the growing sales opportunities in China, home to one billion wireless subscribers, and an expected 230 million 3G subscribers by the end of the year.

According to the report, White noted that the largest carrier in China, China Mobile, which has 66 percent of the market share in the country, still does not officially offer the iPhone, but he expects that will change over the next year. (ANI)