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Apple (AAPL - Get Report) rose Tuesday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts upgraded the stock, saying they're bullish on the launches of the new Apple Watch, the iPhone 6c and the iPhone 7 along with the company's large cash balance.
In addition, the bank's China survey showed that iPhone is the most popular brand there, and about half of current users plan to buy a new iPhone in the next year. That could give Apple a gain in market share.
The iPhone 6c will likely be priced lower and may "drive increased conversions from feature phones," analyst Wamsi Mohan and his team wrote.
Also, investors have largely discounted worries over a lackluster cycle for the iPhone 6s, which had prompted the bank's August downgrade, the analysts wrote.
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The bank upgraded Apple to a buy rating from neutral, with a $130 price target. Apple rose 1.5% to $99.96.
Google (GOOGL - Get Report) may be working to catch up to Facebook (FB - Get Report) and Microsoft (MSFT - Get Report) in the realm of virtual reality.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has put a key deputy in charge of forming a dedicated division for VR computing, according to Re/code. Clay Bavor, vice president for product management is focusing on VR products after having overseen Google's apps, including Gmail, Drive and Docs, and the Google Cardboard VR device. Senior Vice President Diane Greene will be taking over the apps division, the news organization reported, saying that Google had confirmed the moves but declined to comment on them.
Many in the industry had been questioning Google's dedication to VR after the company fumbled with Google Glass, Re/code wrote. Bavor's move shows that Google is taking seriously the threat from Facebook and its Oculus product, which currently has 400 people working on it, according to the article.
Google parent Alphabet rose 1.7% to $745.34 on Tuesday, while Facebook gained 1.9% to $99.37 and Microsoft advanced 1% to $52.78.
Twitter (TWTR - Get Report) , whose shares have suffered amid flat user growth and concerns about the CEO's split focus, announced a new feature meant to keep users from leaving the social-media service's timeline by enhancing their real-time experience.
Live video broadcasts from the sister app Periscope will now start playing automatically from users' Twitter feeds, so viewers will no longer have to launch a separate app, the company said. Twitter bought Periscope last year.
Periscope said it is rolling out the feature for Twitter on iOS over the next few days and will launch Android and web versions "as soon as they're ready."
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