Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) already was recovering from its lows when Carl Icahn tweeted that he had purchased a large stake in the consumer electronics giant. Also note that Apple’s stock price has been challenging $500 for more than a week now. So what happens when UBS issues a research report maintaining its Buy rating but adjusting its price target up to $560 from $500?

The long and short of it is that Apple is trading up almost 1% and is over the $504.00 level. The stock has traded as high as $510.57 on Tuesday and $513.74 on Monday. Those will be crucial stock levels to watch if the rally recovers.

While many analysts upgrade or downgrade shares, or raise or lower price targets, solely based on when a target is hit, the UBS team here is raising its earnings estimates as well. That makes the Apple target price upgrade more than just a refresh to adjust for the market performance.

UBS sees earnings in its 2014 of $44.65 per share, versus a prior target of $42.39 per share, and versus a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters of $42.31 per share. The boost to earnings is after making certain assumptions less conservative from the coming iPhone refresh and also due to a likely deal with China Mobile expected this year.

With shares trading at $504, the 52-week trading range is $385.10 to $705.07. The $560 UBS price target compares to a $525.92 consensus target from Thomson Reuters.

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