Apple Shares Rise Ahead of iPad Launch
Apple Inc. shares set an all-time high Monday as investors look ahead to the launch of the iPad tablet computer at the end of the week.</br></br>Apple shares hit $233.87 in morning trading on the Nasdaq stock market. By midafternoon shares had eased to $232.13, up half a percent on the day. The stock has risen about 15% since the company introduced the iPad at a media event in late January, and has more than doubled from its level at this time last year.</br></br>The iPad goes on sale in the U.S. Saturday at prices from $499 to $829, depending on memory and options. Apple says the device will be sold online through its Web site, at its retail stores and at most stores owned by Best Buy Co., its retail partner for the launch.</br></br>Expectations for the device are high. Analysts for Morgan Stanley wrote in a note Monday they expect Apple to ship about 2.5 million units in its first quarter on the market, and more than 6 million units this year. Lead analyst Katy Huberty estimates that every 1 million units equates to 25 cents a share on the company's bottom line.</br></br>"Recent upward revisions to iPad-build rates point to strong initial preorders, and should help deliver upside relative to consensus expectations in the June quarter and [calendar year] 2010," she wrote.