Apple Enjoying Retail Store Strength, Beatles On iTunes

Jonathan Hoopes, an analyst at ThinkEquity Partners, today raised his price target on Buy-rated Apple Computer (AAPL) to $110 from $100, citing strength in the performance of the company’s retail stores on Black Friday.

In a research note, Hoopes says he conducted a survey of 28 Apple retail stores on Friday, and concluded that total revenue from the stores that day totaled between $36 million and $41 million. He extrapolates from there to conclude Apple stores will have holiday sales of $813 million to $916 million. And he then goes on to say that the company is likely to exceed his $1.45 billion revenue estimate for the December quarter by $55 million or more.

Hoopes says his survey found the conversion rate at the stores - the percentage of people who actually bought something - to be more than 8%. The overwhelming majority of the purchases, he says “fit into a small bag.” (In other words, they were likely iPods.)

Meanwhile, Fortune reports this morning that Apple is close to securing an exclusive deal to distribute the Beatles song catalog via iTunes. Earlier this month, I reported that EMI Music Vice Chairman David Munns said at the recent Web 2.0 conference that the Beatles catalog would be coming online “soon.”

AAPL 1-yr chart: