Wall Street has a new taste for Apple

Several brokerage firms raised their price targets and upgraded their ratings for Apple following the company's better than expected earnings yesterday.

BTIG, Morgan Stanley, Macquarie and JPMorgan raised its price targets for the iPhone maker, with BTIG upping its target to $124 from $115 and Morgan Stanley raising its target to $123 from $120. Macquarie increased its price target to $115 from $112 while JPMorgan, one of the more conservative opinions on Apple, upped its target to $107 from $105. In June JPMorgan cuts its price target to $105 from $125.

The average price target now $122.72 according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, up from $122.06 Tuesday. Apple's stock closed up 6.5% Tuesday, to close at $103 a share.

"Valuation multiples are a function of growth and risk," wrote BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk in a research note to investors. "And with FQ3 behind us and reasonable guidance for the current quarter, we believe investors can now focus on what new products and services can return Apple to growth."

Others firms including Raymond James did not change its price targets but upped its recommendations on the stock to outperform. "The big picture is that iPhone sell through has sustained somewhat better than we had forecasted," wrote Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt in the firm's research note. "And therefore we expect (year-over-year) declines more moderated over the next two quarters before a return to growth in March."

Apple reported $42.4 billion in sales led by 40.4 million iPhone shipments. While both numbers are down year-over-year, they did beat analysts expectations of $42.1 billion in sales and 40 million iPhone shipments. iPhone sales account for more than half of the Apple's revenues.

The company did see a boost in its services division, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and Apple Music, jumping 19% year over year to $5.98 billion. On the company's earnings call Tuesday afternoon CEO Tim Cook said Apple expects the division to be the "size of a Fortune 100 company next year."

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Revenue Breakdown by Product | FindTheCompany

It has been a rough year for Apple as concern over future iPhone growth has taken a toll on the company's stock price. Although the company has seen a bump today the stock is down close to 22% from this time last year.

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal