Apple (AAPL) Stock Price and News: Apple Inc finally bounces after earnings results, targets $137

AAPL shares closed Friday at $130.21 a gain of 0.36%. AAPL shares have not had the reaction many would expect to a truly stellar earnings release. Apple made most Wall Street analysts look like rookie horse pickers when it smashed analyst estimates on April 28. Earnings per share reported $1.40 versus the average analyst forecast of $0.99. A forty per cent beat.

AAPL shares were trading at $131 at the time of reporting earnings, popped up to $137 before gradually sliding back to $126.70. Even with Friday's gain, AAPL shares are still trading below where they released earnings.

Oh yeah, not content with smashing earnings expectations, Apple announced an increase in its dividend and an increase in its buyback program. Still not good enough for the market, though.

AAPL stock forecast

The AAPL chart shows clearly the sell-off after earnings. Better to travel than arrive, buy the rumour-sell the fact all spring to mind here but the size of the beat and the subsequent dividend increase and buyback increase still came as a surprise and were not priced in. 

Finally, on Friday, AAPL shares caught some bids as the jobs report saw a broad tech rally. Apple has now retraced back to test the short-term moving average resistance at $130.75. Apple bounced beautifully from the 100-day moving average earlier in the week. So, bulls have some hope here.

The first step is to breach the 9-day moving average at $130.75 and then test the lower end of the consolidation range shown on the chart. This level is $131.45. Continued appreciation should see the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) give a buy crossover but this needs to be watched for further confirmation. The top of the range is $135.51 and the spike high post the earnings release is $137.07. This should be the short term target if AAPL breaks the 9-day moving average. 

If momentum fails to take the 9-day moving average then the bounce from the 100-day moving average will be the first target support. At the time of writing, this is at $126.86. A break of that will see AAPL target the old consolidation area of $120-$125. Given the volume and time spent in this range, it will be a strong area of support. The 200-day moving average at $117 would support below this level. 

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