Needham analyst Laura Martin raised her price target on shares of Apple Inc. AAPL, +1.53% to $260 from $220 on Thursday, following the company's iPhone launch event. Shares are up 0.8% in premarket trading. "For the first time, the most expensive iPhones are available 5 weeks before cheaper iPhones, which is a release windowing strategy the movie industry has used for decades to maximize total revenue," Martin wrote. She also likes that the company devoted 30 minutes of attention to the new Apple Watch Series 4, which was only a little bit less time than the company spent discussing its two high-end phones. "Despite its lower price point, Apple's watch drives incremental stickiness, which lowers churn, plus it adds to the average revenue per user" for those in Apple's ecosystem, Martin wrote. She continues to rate the stock a buy. Shares are up 39% over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.68% has gained 17%.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.