Apple Becomes A WallStreetBets Favorite As Cupertino Looks To Bounce Big In Second Half

Apple, Inc. AAPL shares closed higher for the fifth straight session Wednesday, and the rally took the stock close to its record high of $145.09, which it hit in late January.

Cupertino Tops WSB Charts:  Apple was the most commented as well as the most mentioned stock on the WallStreetBets forum, a subreddit where retail investors discuss stocks.

As of Thursday morning, about 10.47% of the total comment volume was on Apple, with 168 positive comments and 33 negative comments, according to Swaggy Stocks.

The other most commented stocks included ContextLogic Inc. WISH, Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. SPCE, SoFi Technologies, Inc. SOFI and NIO Inc. NIO.

Among stocks, Apple received the maximum mentions on the forum, with 392 mentions compared to 365 for ContextLogic, 344 for Palantir, 244 for Tesla, Inc. TSLA and 227 for GameStop Corp. GME.

Related Link: Apple iPad, Mac Have 'Positive Demand Tailwind': Gene Munster

Apple Positioned For Upside In 2H: Despite the strong iPhone 12 momentum, Apple shares have lagged several bigger rivals in the first half of 2021.

The stock was up merely 2.8% for the six months ended June 30.

Historically, Apple puts up a strong second-half performance, courtesy the excitement around the launch of new iterations of its flagship iPhone.

Apple shares are poised to outperform the broader market materially in the second half of 2021, and therefore it's time to accumulate shares, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said in a recent note.

The analyst premised his optimism on dual factors: the first-half underperformance of Apple shares and the upcoming iPhone 13 series outperforming relative to muted expectations.

Famed Apple analyst Gene Munster sees other hardware products, including Mac and iPad, benefiting from strong demand tailwinds. The company has been growing its Services business strongly, and it is increasingly becoming a vital cog in Apple's wheels.

Related Link: What We Know About Apple's Next iPhone

Photo: Apple CEO Tim Cook. Courtesy of Apple.