NEW
YORK (AP) — A Wall Street analyst on Monday set the highest price target yet
for Apple shares, valuing them at $1,001 each, or about 62 percent more than
their current price.

Topeka
Capital Markets analyst Brian White said the Cupertino, Calif., company’s
current stock price does not reflect its rapid growth in recent years, nor its
future growth prospects. 

He
based his price target on his estimate for Apple’s calendar-year 2013 earnings,
multiplied by 17. He notes that Apple shares carried an earnings multiple in
the mid-20s from 2006 to 2010. 

Wall
Street analysts called the company undervalued for much of last year, but the
stock has risen to match some earlier estimates. It’s up 79 percent over the
past 12 months. 

Apple
shares rose $19.08, or 3.2 percent, to close at $618.63 on Monday. 

The
average Apple price target of 39 analysts polled by FactSet is $678. Analyst
Tavis McCourt at Morgan Keegan, set a target of $800 two weeks ago. 

Apple
is already the world’s most valuable public company, with a market
capitalization of $574 billion. A price of $1,001 per share implies a company
value of $935 billion, well above what any company has ever been worth. 

The
52 percent rise in the stock price this year has been fueled by blowout sales
of iPhones and iPads in the holiday quarter, plus the announcement that Apple
will start paying a dividend this summer and buy back shares. That’s a way to
reward shareholders by tapping Apple’s $97.6 billion cash hoard. 

White
believes Apple will expand its reach this year by starting to sell the iPhone
through China Mobile, that country’s largest phone company, and by launching a
TV set. Apple hasn’t confirmed either piece of speculation. 

“Apple
fever is spreading like a wildfire around the world. We see no end in sight to
this trend, especially given the company’s low market share in the mobile phone
and computing markets,” White wrote. 

White
is firing up coverage of Apple at his new employer, New York-based Topeka
Capital Markets. He previously worked for Ticonderoga Securities, which folded
in January.