Nasdaq AAPL Apple

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Twitter Inc said late on Thursday that hackers targeted about 130 accounts during the cyber attack this week, an incident in which profiles of many prominent personalities and organizations were compromised.

(RTTNews) - Apple said that it will open the new Apple Sanlitun store on Friday in China. It is located in the Taikoo Li mall in Beijing and will replace the company's first store in China.

The tech surge has appeared limp lately, with hints a possible trend reversal might be on the way. But Apple (AAPL) stock is having none of it – yet. Along with the share price reaching new milestones on an almost daily basis, the giant from Cupertino is rewarded with another boost from Wall Street’s analyst corps.

Joining the fray, Merrill Lynch analyst Wamsi Mohan bumped up his price target for Apple from $390 to $410, implying modest potential upside of 6% from current levels. No change to Mohan’s rating, which remains a Buy. (To watch Mohan’s track record, click here)

So, why amid a pandemic, which has resulted in a contracting economy and high unemployment rates, does Apple’s share price keep soaring? On a fundamental level, Mohan believes several “improving trends” are helping to fuel the surge.

Among these Mohan counts “continued strong App store revenue growth.” Based on third part data, in fiscal 3Q, App Store revenue increased by 30% year-over-year, while overall in fiscal 2020, App Store sales are up by 23% compared to last year.

Mohan adds to the list “lower iPhone channel inventory,” and the fact that Apple’s trade-in prices are lower than those of third parties, indicating to Mohan that “near term demand is robust enough and does not need incremental incentives.”

Additionally, a Merrill Lynch smartphone survey revealed Apple fans displayed strong brand loyalty, with the iPhone representing the “stickiest” of all smartphone brands. This is hardly surprising for a brand boasting hardcore fans known to queue overnight outside of Apple stores before a new product launch.

However, the fundamental analysis doesn’t tell the whole story. Mohan argues investors view Apple as a safe place to park their cash for another set of reasons.

These include, “(1) a liquid investment to weather an uncertain environment, (2) a tech “story” stock with a catalyst of 5G, (3) a large cap tech name relatively less exposed to the regulatory risks (including recent EU tax related litigation win), (4) a beneficiary of passive inflows, and (5) an alternative to low rates.”

Apple has plenty of support from the rest of the Street, too. AAPL's Strong Buy consensus rating is based on 25 Buy ratings, 6 Holds and 1 Sell. On the other hand, the $368.19 average price target indicates the analysts expect shares to drop by nearly 5% from current levels. (See Apple stock analysis on TipRanks)

To find good ideas for tech stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - For Netflix investors, reality bites. Netflix’s subscriber growth is slowing, and boss Reed Hastings has decided to share his chief executive role. That was enough to knock around 10% off the streaming service’s stock in after-hours

The S&P 500 dropped on Thursday, pulled lower by Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, as elevated levels of unemployment claims heightened concerns about the economic toll from rising coronavirus cases.

The S&P 500 ended down on Thursday, pulled lower by Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, as elevated levels of unemployment claims heightened concerns about the economic toll from rising coronavirus cases.

The S&P 500 dipped from a five-week high on Thursday, pulled lower by Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc, as concerns about the economic toll from rising coronavirus cases were heightened by data showing elevated levels of unemployment claims.

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

U.S. Attorney General William Barr took aim at Hollywood companies, including Walt Disney Co on Thursday as well as large technology firms like Apple, Alphabet's Google and Microsoft Corp over company actions with China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) had posted a modest decline by late Thursday morning, down about 0.3% at 11:10 a.m. EDT. Economic news was mixed: Retail sales jumped 7.5% in June, beating expectations, but another 1.3 million Americans filed for state unemploy

We've come a long way since the personal computer was introduced in the 1970s. Today we can communicate face-to-face with anyone in the world in real-time with a device that we can hold in our hands. These advances in technology have been amazing for consumers and provided lucra

The hackers who seized control of the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Kim Kardashian, Barack Obama and Elon Musk appear to have been in it only for the money.

U.S. fast food chain Burger King and a car manufactured by a General Motors (GM) joint venture were picked out for criticism on Thursday by China's state television station in its high-profile annual show on consumer rights.

U.S. lawmakers sought an explanation from Twitter Inc after hackers gained access to the social media company's internal systems to hijack accounts of several politicians, billionaires, celebrities and companies.

U.S. fast food chain Burger King and Chinese news app Qutoutiao were singled out for criticism on Thursday by China's state television station in its high-profile annual show aimed at protecting consumers.

U.S. passive equity funds have started to witness inflows after a two-month hiatus as investors flock to rising equity markets, but prefer shadowing indexes to picking stocks.

Apple Inc said on Thursday it was working with 10 additional historically Black universities and colleges to become "hubs" that will teach computer programming and app design skills in their regions.

Shares of Twitter Inc dropped more than 4% in pre-market trading on Thursday, a day after hackers gained access to the social media company's internal systems to hijack accounts of several politicians, billionaires, celebrities and companies.