Wall Street analysts on Monday joined the masses in terming Apple Inc's iPad launch as "rock-solid", with some pegging sales of the tablet computer at about 5 million units in the first 12 months.
Analysts also said the tablet computer's margins would push up Apple's earnings from the onset.
At least three brokerages raised their price target and full-year estimates on the company, two days after Apple's latest device hit stores.
"We believe iPad has potential to become a high volume device as it could revolutionize publishing and gaming markets, not to mention mobile computing itself," Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a research note.
JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz said Apple faithful and the early adopters should help the iPad beat subdued investor expectations in the interim, but critical mass depends on future product generations overcoming current limitations.
Analyst Moskowitz estimates iPad's gross margins to be about 51 percent and expects Apple to sell about 4.8 million units in the first 12 months.
Susquehanna Financial analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro raised his calendar year 2010 unit sales estimates to 4.8 million units from 2.1 million units.
Apple has plenty riding on the iPad, which it unveiled in January and calls a new category of machine: a lightweight media consumption device that tries to fuse the best attributes of a smartphone and a laptop.
JP Morgan raised its price target on Apple stock to $305 from $240, Kaufman Brothers increased it to $295 from $253 and Thomas Weisel Partners lifted its price target to $280 from $270.
Apple's stock is up around 12 percent this year and has been setting new all-time highs. Shares of the company were trading down 74 cents at $235.23 Monday in trading before the bell. The stock closed at $235.97 Thursday on Nasdaq.
Analysts say that regardless of how well the launch goes, its stock price is likely to slip next week as investors cash in profits.
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