Apple soars to all-time high after top analyst suggests 'completely wireless' iPhone could arrive by 2021

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Apple soars to all-time high after top analyst suggests 'completely wireless' iPhone could arrive by 2021
Tim Cook
  • Apple breached an all-time high Friday, surging as much as 1.5% following reports detailing its upcoming iPhone lineup.
  • The company may release a new budget iPhone in the first half of 2020 and a high-tier, "completely wireless" phone in 2021, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a Thursday note.
  • The company is also expected to reveal its first 5G-capable iPhones in fall 2020.
  • Apple stock was also boosted by a better-than-expected Friday jobs report, which drove 1% jumps in the three major US stock indexes.
  • Watch Apple trade live here.

Apple soared to an all-time high Friday, jumping as much as 1.5% following reports detailing its upcoming iPhone lineup.

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The company may release a new, high-tier iPhone without a Lightning port and a "completely wireless experience" as soon as 2021, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a Thursday note. The product would rely on wireless charging for its power source and would serve as a new way for the company to differentiate its more expensive phones from the rest of its lineup.

Kuo, who is well known for accurate Apple predictions, also expects Apple to roll out a new budget-model iPhone in the first half of 2020. The lower-priced model would resemble the iPhone 8 and boast a 4.7-inch LCD display, according to the analyst. Apple hasn't released a budget smartphone since 2016 with the $400 iPhone SE, and such an update would give the company its widest-ever range of new iPhone prices.

Apple is expected to unveil its first 5G-capable iPhone lineup in fall 2020.

The stock jump also follows a Friday US jobs report that trounced expectations. The nation's economy added 266,000 nonfarm payrolls in November, higher than the 185,000 prediction among economists. The data also pushed the US unemployment rate to a historically low 3.5%.

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The positive labor market update drove all three major US indexes roughly 1% higher.

Friday's surge further solidifies Apple's position as the world's most valuable company. The Cupertino, California-based company took back the market-cap crown from Microsoft on October 18 as better-than-expected iPhone 11 sales propped up its stock price. Several analysts previously anticipated consumers would skip the latest iPhone generation to wait for its 5G-enabled devices.

Apple was also the first publicly traded company to break the $1 trillion market cap threshold, setting the record in August 2018.

The company traded at $269.39 per share at 11:40 a.m. ET, up roughly 71% year-to-date.

Apple has 27 "buy" ratings, 14 "hold" ratings, and seven "sell" ratings from analysts, with a consensus price target of $260.27, according to Bloomberg data.

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