Apple Shares Hit Record High after Blowout Results

(MarketWatch) - Shares of Apple jumped Wednesday morning to an all-time high following the company's blowout results for its first fiscal quarter, in which earnings more than doubled on strong sales of the iPhone and iPad.

After the opening bell, the stock rose more than seven percent to pass the $450 mark -- making for a gain of more than 30 percent over the last 12 months. The stock was last up 6.7 percent to $448.90.

Late Tuesday, Apple reported that its earnings more than doubled in the December quarter, as the company sold more than 37 million iPhones, blowing past analysts' estimates for the period. The typically conservative company also issued a forecast for the current period that was above Wall Street's forecasts.

Brokerage analysts, who were already heavily bullish on the stock, amped up their estimates for the company's current fiscal year, as well as their price targets for the stock.

"We expect another stellar product cycle this year with an iPad refresh in March, followed by the much-anticipated LTE-capable iPhone 5 midyear," according to Richard Gardner of Citigroup, who raised his price target on the stock to $600 from $500 following the report.

Calling the results "stunning on many levels," Mark Moskowitz of J.P. Morgan pushed his price target to $625 from $525.

"We think that underlying strength related to iPhone and iPad market penetration has staying power," he wrote, adding that he expects investors "to be intrigued by Apple pre-emptively commenting that it is actively assessing cash usage options."

Apple said it ended the quarter with cash, equivalents and long-term securities totaling $97.6 billion. Several analysts asked the company about discussions regarding a possible dividend or share buyback, but Apple executives remained noncommittal on the subject, saying only that the board of directors was having "active discussions" on the topic.

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