Apple shares touch a fresh all-time high on Wednesday, Apple News service now has 100 million monthly active users

Apple Inc (AAPL) said earlier this week that its Apple News service now had 100 million monthly active users based in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The number compares with 85 million users in the preceding year.

Apple shares closed higher for the seventh time in the past ten trading sessions on NASDAQ on Wednesday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since January 2nd. The stock went up 1.61% ($4.80) to $303.19, after touching an intraday high at $304.42 and also a fresh all-time high.

Shares of Apple Inc have added 3.25% to their value so far in 2020 compared with a 0.69% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2019, Apple’s stock went up 86.16%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 28.88% gain.

The tech giant’s services segment revenue went up 16% to $46.3 billion during its fiscal year ended on September 28th 2019.

During the period between December 24th 2019 and January 1st 2020, Apple customers spent $1.42 billion in its App Store, or 16% larger amount compared to the same period a year ago. Clients spent $386 million on January 1st alone, or 20% more from a year earlier, Apple said.

The company keeps 15% to 30% of the sales through its App Store, depending on whether software is bought by customers as a one-time purchase or recurring subscription.

Another version of the news service, Apple News+, is also offered to customers at a monthly cost of $9.99, for which, however, Apple did not report subscriber numbers.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 38 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $282.50, with a high estimate of $350.00 and a low estimate of $150.00. The median estimate represents a 6.82% downside compared to the closing price of $303.19 on January 8th.

The same media also reported that at least 23 out of 43 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 12 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 5 analysts had recommended selling the stock.