Apple (AAPL 3.95%) stock, which has been something of a laggard this year on the stock exchange, nevertheless hit an all-time high on Monday. That followed a rise in its share price by nearly 4% that day, on the back of several bullish analyst updates. The tech giant’s pop easily beat the S&P 500‘s (^GSPC 1.07%) gain of 1.1% across that trading session.

Strong sales from the get-go

One of those Apple reports came from researcher Counterpoint, which wrote that the company’s latest iPhone model, the 17, notably outsold in predecessor in the key markets of the U.S. and China. In the first 10 days of sales in the two nations combined last month, Counterpoint wrote (according to reports), the 17’s sales topped those of the iPhone 16 by 14%.

Image source: Getty Images.

The researcher wrote that the base model of the new phone was a particularly hot seller, as its sales trumped those of the 16 by 31% in the two countries collectively.

Also citing increased demand for the iPhone 17, according to reports, Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah upgraded his recommendation on Apple stock Monday morning. For him, it’s now a buy, one peg up from his previous tag of hold. Baruah also significantly raised his price target, to $315 per share from his preceding $226.

The hard truth

Apple is still rather dependent on hardware sales; in its most recently reported quarter, it garnered nearly $67 billion from its devices and computers. Although services revenue is growing faster, it still only comprised $27 billion in the frame. As the iPhone is a major component of Apple’s hardware take, the encouraging early sales figures are indeed a positive development for the company.