By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) surged to record highs Thursday, as the tech giant is reportedly accelerating plans to develop its self-driving electric vehicle after reaching a key milestone.
Apple was up more than 2.8% surpassing its previous all-time high of $157.87.
The company recently reached a key milestone in developing the car’s underlying self-driving system, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the situation. The chip would be used in the first generation of the car.
Apple is internally targeting a launch of its self-driving car in four years, faster than the five- to seven-year timeline that some engineers had been planning for earlier this year, according to the report.
Some on Wall Street are forecasting that entry into the EV market could add at least $30 per share to the Apple’s share price.
“We continue to believe its a matter of when, not if, Apple enters the EV race and this will add another $30+ per share of TAM [total addressable market] to the Apple growth story over the next few years given the golden age of EV transformation on the horizon,” Wedbush said in a note.
Wedbush rates Apple's chances of the unveiling its own car at own standalone car by 2025 at 60% to 65%, and suggests that a strategic partnership with one of the major automakers could present the way forward for Apple's foray into the EV space as building factories are capital as well as margin intensive.
"The company has been working in Cupertino for years around this autonomous vision and we believe a potential larger strategic partnership with an established auto player such as Hyundai, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), GM, Ford, or VW would be a golden partnership for the next decade tapping into this EV opportunity," the firm wrote.