$Apple(AAPL.US)$ shares are on the move Wednesday following a pair of upgrades from analysts who see strong demand trends in the hardware side of the business.
Virtus Investment Partners' Joe Terranova backed up the bullish analyst calls Wednesday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."He might have even one-upped the analysts when he said Apple is "the perfect stock to own in an economic downturn."
What To Know: Apple began the year trading at $177.57, Terranova said.
That's where Apple is going to trade above in the next several weeks, if not the next several days."
- he said.
He suggested that Apple stock will be able to hold its gains through the end of the year — and those who remain long the name will be rewarded.
It will be higher on the year because all of the financial metrics of this company align itself with the environment in which the economic contraction that is unfolding allows for resiliency and allows for investors to be rewarded staying patient and invested in this name."
- he said.
It's an unbelievable company. Oh, and by the way, they're buying back their shares."
During the company's March quarter, Apple announced that its board authorized an increase of $90 billion to its existing share repurchase program. At that time, the company reported $43.11 billion in buybacks through the second quarter of its fiscal year.
In the company's most recent earnings report from the end of July, Apple reported total fiscal year buybacks of $64.97 billion, which shows that Apple repurchased $21.865 billion of its stock last quarter.
AAPL Price Action: Apple has a 52-week high of $182.94 and a 52-week low of $129.04.