Apple shares gain for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, tech giant to pay back-dated tax to France

Apple Inc (AAPL) announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with French authorities to pay an undisclosed amount of back-dated tax.

According to a number of reports by the French media, the amount agreed upon is around EUR 500 million.

Apple shares closed higher for a fifth consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Tuesday. The stock went up 1.71% ($2.93) to $174.18, after touching an intraday high at $175.04, or a price level not seen since December 4th ($182.39).

Shares of Apple Inc have added 10.42% to their value so far in 2019 compared with a 9.21% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Apple’s stock went down 6.79%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Apple Inc’s division in France confirmed the tax payment agreement, without disclosing any particular amount.

“As a multinational company, Apple is regularly audited by fiscal authorities around the world,” Apple France said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

“The French tax administration recently concluded a multi-year audit on the company’s French accounts, and those details will be published in our public accounts.”

Several French tax activist groups have accused Apple of wide-scale tax evasion and have previously occupied its retail stores in Paris. In February last year, Apple filed a lawsuit against the activist group “Attac” in relation with its protests in the tech companys stores. However, Apples request for an injunction was rejected by the High Court of Paris.

According to CNN Money, the 34 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $180.00, with a high estimate of $245.00 and a low estimate of $140.00. The median estimate represents a 3.34% upside compared to the closing price of $174.18 on February 5th.

The same media also reported that 21 out of 41 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 17 – as “Buy”.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $163.06
R1 – $172.46
R2 – $178.40
R3 – $187.80
R4 – $197.20

S1 – $157.12
S2 – $147.72
S3 – $141.78
S4 – $135.84