More and more people seem to think Apple is about to do a 180 — not in terms of the company's product unveiling on Tuesday, where Apple is expected to show off its newest and most expensive iPhone — but in its stock price.
Based on an examination of the charts, analyst Ari Wald said, "we see near-term support at $155, and upside to $180 based on its breakout from earlier this year."
Wald, Oppenheimer's head of technical analysis, explained on CNBC's "Power Lunch" that his $180 target is "the projection from the breakout coming into the year."
Apple had been trading in a range between roughly $90 and $135 from the middle of 2014 to early 2017, when the stock broke through the top of that $45 range. Wald expects to see it eventually tack another $45 onto the prior $135 peak — bringing Apple up to $180. That would represent an 11 percent rise from Monday's closing price.
In addition, the stock has paced well ahead of the S&P 500 of late, and Wald believes that this outperformance will only continue.
He isn't the only one eyeing the $180 mark. That is actually Wall Street research analysts' median price target, according to FactSet data.
For Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley, his prediction that Apple shares will hit $180 is a function of his expectation that the stock will trade at 16 times earnings, and that 2018 earnings will come in at roughly $11.25 per share.
Hilliard Lyons analyst Stephen Turner also has a $180 target and sees the stock trading at 16 times earnings on profit of $11.25 per share in a year. But he expects that year to be 2019, rather than 2018.
This means that the two analysts officially see the stock going the same place, even though the former sees Apple earning an extra 80 cents in the next year.
BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, meanwhile, is mildly more bullish. His $184 target on the stock is based on an assumption that the company will earn an even more moderate $10.50 in 2018, but that it will trade at 17.5 times those earnings.
Apple shares have risen 39 percent this year, while the is up 11 percent.
