UBS' equity research team circulated a note to clients on May 10 to share what they learned from speaking with Apple expert, Horace Dediu. The biggest takeaway: "Transportation is Apple's future."

The analyst was referring to Apple's "Project Titan," which is its self-driving car division.  "Project Titan is likely to be a transportation platform—not a car but the entire experience," the note said. "Jony Ive and Marc Newson are interested in car design, both exterior and interior."

UBS said the experts it had spoken to thought car ownership will plummet with autonomous driving.  "Then who is going to own all these cars? It might be Apple, one plausible reason to keep a large cash balance," the note said. "For now the company is building expertise in core sensor, driving, and mapping technologies."

Mr. Dediu is a former software engineer and developer manager, turned technology analyst with an emphasis on Apple research. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MS in Engineering from Tufts University.

UBS has a "Buy" rating and $165 price target on Apple stock, implying 7.7% of upside.  

Source: market