Apple fans who love the company so much that they bought a piece of it could experience some bumps after Wednesday’s earnings announcement.

Apple shares could skyrocket to $165, if market activity nudges the company toward one analyst’s target. Increased Mac and iPod sales should give Steve Jobs lots to crow about after the markets close on Wednesday:

“We believe buy-side investors have more or less figured over the past 18 months that Apple sell-side estimates tend to be overzealous and sometimes outright irrational,” American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu wrote in note to clients Monday. “Regardless, we advise investors to take advantage should Apple shares pull back on short-term concerns.”

Like many fellow analysts, Wu expects the Cupertino-based company to report revenue and per-share earnings well above its guidance of $5.1 billion and $0.66. Specifically, he’s modeling for earnings of $0.73 cents on sales of $5.3 billion, compared to Wall Street’s consensus of $0.72 and $5.28 billion.

The analyst’s model factors in a 24 percent rise in Macs sales to 1.64 million units and 22 percent rise in iPods to 9.7 million units with “little signs of cannibalization from iPhone.”

Wu has a buy rating on the stock, and a target of $165.  Not bad for the company Michael Dell once suggested should be shut down with proceeds dished out to shareholders.

Via AppleInsider

Posted in Hardware, Opinion |