Apple (AAPL) stock made a move on the stock market Tuesday: It’s now in buy range. The company also announced an $840 million deal with First Solar (FSLR) to build a solar farm in California. Watch this video for key chart analysis of the consumer electronics giant. Follow Alissa Williams on Twitter: @IBD_AWilliams. RELATED: Apple Partners With First Solar On Massive Energy Plant.
Demonstrating its commitment to clean renewable energy sources, Apple (AAPL) has pledged $848 million to buy power from First Solar’s California Flats Solar Project in Monterey County, Calif. First Solar (FSLR) called the 25-year power purchase agreement “the largest agreement in the industry to provide clean energy to a commercial end user.” The 2,900-acre California Flats Solar Project is located in Cholame, Calif. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2015 and be completed by the end of 2016. Apple will get 130 megawatts of alternating current from the solar plant, and the remaining 150 MW of the project will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a separate long-term agreement. Between Apple and PG&E, the 280 MW project is fully subscribed, First Solar said. “Apple’s commitment was instrumental in making this project possible and will significantly increase the supply of solar power in California,” Joe Kishkill, chief commercial officer…
Apple (AAPL) iPhone sales are likely to remain strong this year as customers upgrade to bigger-screen iPhone 6 series handsets, Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said Monday. Apple last month reported a monster December quarter for iPhone sales, selling 74.5 million units, up 46% year over year and crushing expectations for 68 million units. Walkley says the iPhone sales momentum will continue this year. “A strong iPhone 6 upgrade cycle should continue through calendar 2015, driven by two primary reasons,” Walkley said in a research report. Those two reasons are iPhone users upgrading to the latest handsets and Google (GOOGL) Android smartphone users switching to iPhones. “First, given our estimate only 15% of the iPhone installed base has upgraded to the iPhone 6 devices, we anticipate continued very strong replacement sales to existing iPhone consumers,” he said. “Second, we anticipate further high-end smartphone market share gains for…