Apple Finishes Higher Despite Price Target Cut

Shares of Apple

finished up 1.24 percent on Thursday, closing at $523.51. The rally comes despite the fact that Gene Munster, analyst at Piper Jaffray, lowered his price target from $910 to $875. Munster cited margin pressure as the reason for his price target cut. Yet, he remained positive, stating that there was still much upside left at current valuations.

on Tuesday that Apple was planning to release a cheaper version of the iPhone to compete against low-end smartphones running Google's

Android. That was backed up by a report from

on Wednesday. Yet, Apple's Phil Schiller claimed the future of Apple would

never be in the cheap smartphone market.

Like the iPad Mini, Apple may wish to release a cheap iPhone to defend iOS as a platform. However, a cheap iPhone would no doubt hurt Apple's record high margins.