Leopard could attract Windows switchers

MacAddict writes: Prudential Equity has raised its rating and target price on Apple stock. Analysts there now see Apple as an 'overweight' stock, raising the target price 20 per cent, from $100 to $105. Prudential cites expectations of higher Mac sales, better margins and new product launches — including a widescreen, flash-based video iPod in the second half of the year — as catalysts for better performance from Apple. The 27 March announcement of Adobe CS3 is likely to generate a spike in sales of Apple's professional Macs, Prudential said. "Given that Microsoft's Vista has not been very well received by the consumer, a successful Leopard launch could drive more consumers to shift form Windows-based PCs to Macs," said the analysts, according to MacNN. Prudential's analysis emerges as Banc of America analyst Keith Bachman speculates that the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will add $200 million to Apple revenue this year, observing that the Mac OS X user base now sits at 22 million users. http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm? newsid=17406