Analyst Gene Munster thinks AAPL could reach $400 per share in 2020

AAPL on iPhone 6
AAPL on iPhone 6 (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Analyst Gene Munster was speaking with CNBC's "trading Nation."
  • He says that AAPL could reach $400 "over the next year."
  • Apple Watch and AirPods are two reasons for his thinking.

Loup Ventures analyst has told CNBC's "Trading Nation" that Apple shares could reach as high as $400 by the end of 2020.

But don't think that Munster has plucked that number out of thin air. It's apparently "based on two factors. One is the fundamentals and second is the multiples."

"If you look at Apple's valuation in the current earnings multiple, it's still low relative to other tech companies," said Munster. "If you apply a Facebook multiple to Apple stock, it's a $400 stock."

Munster appears to be pinning a lot of his $400 hopes on Apple's 2020 iPhone lineup, with the analyst of the belief that we will see five new models arrive this year. Including, yes, the infamous iPhone SE refresh.

"In 2020, there's going to be five new iPhone models. Typically, that has a benefit to revenue," said Munster, adding Apple typically unveils three new models each year."The two additional models are likely going to be slightly lower-priced, SE models that really hit the heart of phone market."

Apple's growing wearables market, including Apple Watch and AirPods, is also one of the reasons Munster expects this year to be a bumper one for those who own AAPL.

A word of caution before anyone sells their kids to buy AAPL stock, though. This is the same Gene Munster who claimed Apple was going to release its own television each and every quarter for what felt like forever. And that never came to pass.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.