Piper Jaffray Reiterates Their Buy Rating on Apple (AAPL)

Piper Jaffray reiterates their Buy rating on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and maintains their $250 price target.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, along with Piper analysts Michael J. Olson and Andrew H. Murphy, cited two second half catalysts for Apple.

First, Apple will be running their most aggressive back-to-school promotion yet. The analysts highlighted that the company will be offering a full rebate for an iPod touch, a $299 value, or nano if purchased with a qualifying Mac using an education discount. Therefore, the analysts said, "Given its aggressive nature, we believe this promotion will be a more significant driver of Mac and iPod sales in the Sept. quarter than it has been in the past. And while the $299 rebate will negatively impact margins, Apple adequately communicated this change during the last earnings conference call."

Second, the analysts are expecting Apple to announce and host a special event in early September. They believe that the company will use the event to “announce new iPods and redesigned Mac portables.”

Finally, the analysts said, "We have analyzed stock action around most of the major Apple events over the last three years, highlighting stock movement around the Sept. special event. On average shares of AAPL have risen 4% from the week before to the week after the event and +47% from the week before to four months after (through the holidays). The 4% increase in the two weeks surrounding the Sept. event compares to a 3% increase surrounding all Apple events during that same time period."

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells personal computers, portable digital music players, and mobile communication devices, as well as related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions worldwide