Piper Jaffray Maintains Overweight on Apple After iBooks 2 Announcement

Piper Jaffray has published a research report on Apple AAPL after the company announced its iBooks 2 version bookstore and reading app for iOS devices this morning. In the report, Piper Jaffray writes, "The initiative will establish a strong library of learning content made only for Apple devices. We see content as one of several critical steps in getting more iPads into the hands of students (already 1.5m in use in schools). Our survey work among tech buyers in education suggests several hurdles: content, device management and cost. We believe Apple is solving the content issue with today's announcements. Apple clearly has a first-mover advantage, which could add upside to our iPad est. of 66m in CY13 and beyond as schools begin to adopt next-gen learning technology over the next 2-5 years." Piper Jaffray maintains its Overweight rating and $607 price target on Apple, which is currently trading up $0.38 from yesterday's $429.11 closing price.