Apple hits $800bn as analysts eye $1trn valuation

Tech giant Apple Inc remains the world’s most valuable company as the iPhone maker saw its share price push past $800bn on Monday.

Investors lapped up the stock at the beginning of the week after the company reported its first quarter earnings last week with mixed results.

The stock was boosted by the release of research from US broker Drexel Hamilton, whose analyst Brian White lifted its target price to $202 per share. If Apple were to hit that price it would become the first publicly-listed company ever to be worth $1trn.

White asserted that Apple was "among the most underappreciated stocks in the world".

Investors lapped up the stock at the beginning of the week

Apple was 2.7% higher at the close of Wall Street on $153 per share, after hitting an intraday high of $153.70.

The tech firm sold less iPhones than expected during the first three months of 2017, with CEO Tim Cook attributing some of the slowdown to anticipation of the launch the new iPhone 8 model later this year.

The Cupertino-based company maintains a healthy lead over its major rivals in the tech industry, which are also its closest competitors on Wall Street.

Google's parent company Alphabet has a market capitalisation of $653bn, while Microsoft is the next most-valuable at $532bn.