Apple Stock Hits $600 for First Time Since 2012

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Apple CEO Tim Cook, center left, speaks with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua, center right, during a promotional event that marks the opening day of sales of China Mobile's 4G iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at a shop of the world's largest mobile phone operator in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 17, 2014.

Image: Alexander F. Yuan/Associated Press

By Seth Fiegerman2014-05-05 19:57:02 UTC

Apple stock hit $600 a share in trading Monday for the first time since late 2012.

While other tech stocks have languished in recent weeks, Apple stock has surged from the low $500-range following a strong second-quarter earnings report and news that it plans to offer an additional $30 billion in share buybacks.

See also: Apple TV: The Little Hobby That Wouldn't Die

More recently, Apple scored a small but notable victory against Samsung in a high-profile patent trial.

The stock is still well below its high of $705 right after the iPhone 5 was released in September 2012. A series of supply issues, executive shakeups, growing competition and concerns about Apple's ability to innovate with new products helped to drag the stock down to less than $400 a share at one point.

Apple has remained fairly quiet on the new product front so far this year, but CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly noted that Apple plans to expand into new product categories.

"We are expanding Apple’s products and services into new categories and we are not going to under invest in this business," Cook said during the second quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

Expectations for new product categories as well as upcoming new versions of existing products like the iPhone and iPad has only added to investor optimism for the stock.

"We continue to believe Apple is well positioned to gain unit share in the iPhone 6 cycle," Andy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest, wrote in an investor note obtained by Fortune after its earnings report late last month. "Management also firmly reiterated that it would be expanding into new product categories, which could provide a source of upside to our estimates and investor sentiment over the next year."

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Topics: apple, stocks