Piper Boosts Price Target To $305 With Apple In 'Midst Of A Perfect Storm'

Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson raised his price target for Apple (AAPL) to $305 from $290 and maintains an Overweight rating on the shares.

Apple closed Thursday up 28c to $280.02.

While the shipping of 5G iPhones is still three quarters away, the phone's integration into the investor narrative is well underway, Olson tells investors in a research note.

Piper's third survey of over 1,000 U.S. iPhone owners shows 23% are interested in purchasing a relatively higher average selling price 5G iPhone, unchanged from the September survey and up from 18% in the June survey, Olson tells investors in a research note.

The analyst sees this as a "strong level of interest" given the limited 5G marketing and chatter to date as well as the high price point of $1,200 used in the survey. Apple is in the "midst of a perfect storm," with the current iPhone appearing to perform at-or-above plan, the non-iPhone business trending better than expected, and growing anticipation for 5G iPhones coming late in the fiscal year contends Olson.