Activist investor Carl Icahn has described Apple as "extremely undervalued" and revealed he's bought a large stake in the company.
He also said Apple ought to be trading at $700 a share again, directly contradicting Oracle boss Larry Ellison's dire predictions for the company's future earlier this week.
The news sent Apple's share price soaring 4.75% yesterday to $489.57 at close, adding around $21 billion to its market cap. The company hasn't seen a $700 share price since September last year. "We currently have a large position in Apple," said Icahn on Twitter. "We believe the company to be extremely undervalued."
"Had a nice conversation with Tim Cook today," he added. "Discussed my opinion that a larger buyback should be done now. We plan to speak again shortly."
Reports suggest Icahn holds a stake larger than $1 billion in Apple, making it one of his biggest investments. He is currently separately embroiled in a takeover battle for Dell.
It appears the investor is set to make further investment comments on Twitter after he revealed his intentions "to use Twitter from time to time to communicate with the public about our company and other issues" in a filing with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission.
His advice bucks an overall trend of doom-and-gloom predictions for Cupertino, with Larry Ellison claiming the company's prospects would tank without co-founder Steve Jobs at the helm.
Ellison described Jobs as a visionary innovator, comparable to Edison or Picasso.
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