Shares of Apple Inc. hit an all-time high April 14 as the consumer electronics maker said it would delay the international debut of its iPad tablet computer because of heavy buying from U.S. consumers. The company also released updated versions of its Macbook Pro laptops on April 13.
Shares hit a peak of $245.75 in morning trading. They recently traded up $2.88 at $245.31. The stock's previous peak of $243.07 was set April 12.
Apple said Wednesday it will start taking orders for the iPad from overseas buyers on May 10. In January, it said the iPad would begin worldwide sales in late March.
Caris analyst Robert Cihra raised his estimate for 2010 orders to 5.5 million units from 4.5 million units. If the company can solve supply issues, sales of up to 6 million iPads are possible this year, he said.
Cihra lifted his share price target to $300 from $260.
Meanwhile, Apple's share of the laptop market has likely grown, according to Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt. He cited the increase of MacBooks on Amazon.com's list of 10 laptop bestsellers since late January. He said MacBooks now take up two to four positions on the list, up from one earlier this year.
Amazon's sales list is a "small, but generally representative" segment of the notebook market, McCourt said.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press
