Business

Munster of a stock

Apple’s stock will rise an iPopping price, according to a bullish report yesterday.

Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, a notorious Apple enthusiast, predicted shares will rise more than 50 percent in 2012, from about $400 now to $607.

He’s not the only one sold on Apple’s prospects for the New Year, which is likely to offer a full slate of product refreshes from the iPad 3 to maybe even a TV.

Wall Street is expecting the iPhone 5 to be released by summer, and Munster said the phone will be redesigned, not just updated with software like the iPhone 4S this year.

“We expect buzz around a redesigned iPhone 5 to escalate in early ’12 until Apple launches it midway through the year. The iPhone 5, along with deeper penetration of cheaper iPhone models in more price sensitive markets, should drive higher-than-expected iPhone growth into ‘13,” Munster wrote in a note to clients.

The iPhone is Apple’s biggest revenue generator, and when the company missed sales targets last quarter shares were shaken.

Expectations are even higher this quarter, and this week research firm Susquehanna upped its iPhone sales estimates from $27.1 million to$30.3 million.

Susquehanna’s Jeffery Fidicaro also increased his share target $545.

Analysts have often considered Apple’s ultimate play is for the “third screen,” the TV following computers and tablets.

High hopes are riding on Apple to enter the television market as early as this year with a Web-connected HD flat-screen.

Investors also hope 2012 is the year Apple comes through with another first: a dividend.

The company has more than $80 billion in cash and some on Wall Street have said the company is considering returning some of it to shareholders.

With so much money in the bank a modest dividend could yield investors between $10 and $20 a share, according to some estimates.