J.P. Morgan Raises the Bar for Apple Bulls

Moving to the front of the herd in the running of the iBulls, J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz set a Street record by raising his target price on Apple shares to $390. “Apple is the growth story without rival,” Moskowitz said in a superlative-laden note to clients. “We do not expect our latest round of upward revisions to be the last.”

Seemingly insatiable demand for the iPhone 4 coupled with “iPad mania” and increasing Mac sales overseas will converge in the months ahead to send Apple (AAPL) shares through the roof and beyond, said Moskowitz, whose previous target price was $316 (the stock closed today at $248.48).

“The rapid growth phenomena of both the iPhone 4 and iPad stand to intensify in coming quarters,” Moskowitz wrote. “Plus, we believe major upside potential still exists in what we refer to as the Target Zone of the midrange PC market internationally for Apple. These dynamics should overcome the iPod’s fading importance to the story. Overall, our estimate revisions point to top and bottom-line growth far exceeding 20 percent the next two years.”

Moskowitz predicts Apple will be selling 10 million iPhones and 4.4 million iPads a quarter by September 2010 (click chart below to enlarge). And for fiscal 2011, he figures the company will sell almost 44 million iPhones and more than 21 million iPads.

At that point, says Moskowitz, Apple’s shares will be trading at $390. “Apple stands to be the high-growth, technology leader having no rival for some time, in our view…. Buckle up.”