AppleGrandCentral.com - Needham: Apple Stock Target: $540!

AppleGrandCentral.com - Needham: Apple Stock Target: $540!

"Investment firm Needham & Company on Friday upped its price target for Apple stock to $540, with projected sales of 54 million iPads and 108 million iPhones in 2012.

Analyst Charlie Wolf provides semi-annual updates on his AAPL 12-month price target. Friday, he increased that projection from $450, originally set in February, to $540, but for different reasons than price target raises in the past.

In Wolf's latest projection, the iPhone only contributed modestly to his increased price target. Instead, he has increased his models for Mac and iTunes revenue.

Wolf breaks down Apple's projected value per share with a dollar amount assigned to each of the company's major product categories. In the latest numbers, iTunes saw the largest percentage increase in value, up 82.3 percent, to represent what he called "explosive growth in iOS applications sales."

In addition, he expects the iPad to capture a larger share of the tablet market going forward than was previously anticipated. In Wolf's model, the iPad accounts for 12.2 percent, or $65.62, of the $540 price target."