By Sweta Singh
(Reuters) - Apple Inc's (O:AAPL) surprisingly strong quarterly results and forecast pushed the iPhone maker's shares to a record high, helping the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) breach the 22,000 mark for the first time ever.
The stock rose as much as 6.4 percent at $159.65 in early trading, boosting the market capitalization of the world's most valuable company by about $50 billion to $832 billion.
"The Appleverse is expanding with all segments growing," UBS analyst Steven Milunovich said.
At least eight brokerages raised their price targets on the stock, with Barclays (LON:BARC) making the most bullish move by raising its price target by $23 to $146. The median price target on the stock is $165.
"There is no reason for opportunistic investors to trek to the sidelines given the June-quarter print and Sept-quarter guide," Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz wrote in a client note.
Apple on Tuesday reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and indicated that its upcoming 10th-anniversary iPhone lineup was on schedule.
Apple is widely tipped to adopt higher-resolution OLED displays for the latest iPhone, along with better touchscreen technology and wireless charging - which could come with a $1,000 plus price tag.
Sales of iPad made a surprise comeback in the quarter and were up 15 percent from a year earlier. The company also hit a milestone of 1.2 billion iPhones sold.
Revenue from emerging markets, excluding China, rose 18 percent and remained a bright spot.
Greater China, however, reported its sixth straight decline in revenue, hurt by customers switching to locally made phones.
While most analysts said that increasing competition in China and a fast saturating smartphone market could lead to slowing growth for Apple, Raymond James' analyst Tavis McCourt said the launch of iPhone 8 could shore up demand China.
"We believe there is significant pent up demand for the iPhone 8 in Greater China that will lead to a more than a doubling in demand from Greater China," McCourt said.