Apple stock has another 30% upside, Citi says in new buy rating

Apple Inc. has room to rally another 30%, according to Citigroup Inc., even after a surge that’s sent shares to a record high and the company toward a $3 trillion valuation.

Analyst Atif Malik started coverage of the iPhone maker with a buy rating and $240 price target, the highest among Wall Street analysts. The stock has already risen 46% this year and closed Thursday at a record $189.59. It was up 0.2% in postmarket trading as of 6:17 p.m. New York time.

Apple rose 0.3% in extended trading, putting it within striking distance of hitting a historic $3 trillion market capitalization. The company closed Thursday with a value of $2.98 trillion.

Malik writes that the Street is underestimating the potential for continued gross margin expansion at Apple, driven by a shift toward higher-end iPhones, along with further market share gains in China and India. He adds that the company is “navigating the macro slowdown and inflationary pressure on consumer spending by consistently gaining share from Android phones.”

With Citi’s call, 68% of firms tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying Apple. Still, this is a lower percentage than seen at other megacap tech stocks. Both Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. have buy ratings from more than 85% of analysts, while about 94% of analysts recommend buying Amazon.com Inc.