Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) analyst Shaw Wu has departed brokerage company Sterne Agee according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The analyst, who was a prominent analyst known for his bullishness on the Cupertino firm, left the company last week, and the firm declined to give reasons for his departure.
Sterne Agee gave no information to the Wall Street Journal about what Shaw Wu was leaving the firm to pursue. Last week, Sterne Agee published a note stating that it was no longer going to cover hardware and mobile internet coverage due to a “reallocation of resources.” The note led to speculation that Wu’s tenure at the company had come to an end, and that theory was confirmed by today’s report in the WSJ.
Sterne Agee has categorically stated that the analyst’s departure had nothing to do with his unrealized bullish opinion on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock. Back in January, Wu predicted that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) would report a very strong quarter, and put a price target of $800 on the firm’s shares. When the report was published, the company’s stock stood at $485.95. Today the firm’s stock closed at $430.12.
Wu didn’t just cover Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for Sterne Agee. In his tenure at the company since 2011, he has covered Research In Motion Ltd. (TSE:BB), and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) among others. Wu was not blindly bullish on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) however, and he began cutting his price targets on the company in recent months.
In late January, Wu cut his Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) price target to $715, and in his most recent report about the company’s stock his price target hit $610. That earnings report was delivered just a couple of days before Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its earnings report for the first three months of 2013, a report which failed to boost stock and made investors increasingly nervous about the company’s future.
Shaw Wu believed in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a company, and he spoke, and wrote his mind. As an analyst he may have been too bullish on the Cupertino smart phone giant, but he was far from the only one, and his more recent price targets, and his prediction that the company had hit bottom, may be vindicated in the year to come.
Since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its earnings report, the firm’s stock has increased by almost 8 percent.
