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Apple shares close above $600 again

Following yesterday's scintillating earnings news, Apple's downward skid on the Nasdaq takes a break, and its stock closes the day at $610, up 9 percent.

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
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Jon Skillings
2 min read

Apple's share price got a nice bounce today.

Putting an end to the downward skid of the last couple of weeks, the stock -- which had been red hot from late December to early April -- closed at an even $610, up just under 9 percent for the day.

Shares in Apple began their rebound on the Nasdaq first thing this morning following yesterday's scintillating earnings news. From the opening bell, the stock soared past the $600 mark, trending up a good 10 percent or so to about $616 in early trading.

In the days leading up to this week, Apple's stock had dropped more than 13 percent from a high of $644. It was only on March 19 of this year that the company's shares had closed above $600 for the first time.

Apple yesterday blew past Wall Street's expectations for the company's second fiscal quarter. Profit for the three-month stretch doubled to $11.6 billion on rocketing revenue of $39 billion, powered by, in CFO Peter Oppenheimer's words, "fantastic iPhone sales."

During the quarter just ended, Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones, up 88 percent in terms of units from the same quarter a year ago. It sold 11.8 million iPads, up 151 percent though shy of Wall Street's mark. Mac sales weren't too shabby, and Apple's retail stores and its online iTunes Store continued their strong performance.

That's got some analysts buffing up their forecasts for Apple's shares, following at least one notable downward revision. Goldman Sachs, for one, this morning raised its price target to $850, up from $750.

Now we'll have to see if the trend lasts more than a day.