A mid reports that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL ) is developing a car, shares of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company climbed to a new high on Tuesday.

Apple stock was up 1% in midday trading, near its intraday and record high of 128.88, on the stock market today. The stock has now hit record highs in four of the last five trading sessions.

Apple has been working on a minivan-like electric vehicle in a project codenamed Titan, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apple CEO Tim Cook approved the project nearly a year ago. Several hundred Apple employees are working on Titan now, with plans for a team of 1,000 people. Apple reportedly has been hiring away engineers from luxury electric car maker Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA ) and other automakers.

Apple also is researching autonomous or self-driving cars, Reuters reported.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White said the Apple car could be the iPhone of the future. With global automobile sales expected to reach nearly 89 million units in 2015, the global opportunity for an Apple car is big, White said in a research note Tuesday.

Any way you look at the auto market, the opportunity could be significant for Apple, he said. In our view, as more ‘things’ become computers, we believe Apple is very well-positioned to leverage its heritage in the industry developing hardware and software innovations together across a vast digital ecosystem, creating easy to use, aesthetically pleasing products.

Apple already is involved in the auto market through CarPlay, its technology that lets Apple iOS devices like the iPhone function with built-in display units of automobile dashboards. Apple has signed up over 30 automobile partners to use CarPlay.

White reiterated his buy rating on Apple stock and price target of 160.

Given the size of the auto market, Apple’s iCar has the potential to move the needle for Apple, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a report Saturday. He noted that the U.S. automobile market alone is over $500 billion.

If Apple only had moderate success and gained 10% of the U.S. auto market, it could mean $50 billion in revenue or 23% to FY15 revenue, he said.

But Munster sought to cool down investor expectations for an Apple car.

While it appears Apple is serious about at least experimenting in the car space, we believe it is unlikely that the company launches anything in the next five years, he said.

Still, the reports have gotten people thinking about Apple’s next big thing, he said. Munster rates Apple stock overweight, with a price target of 160.

If Apple gets into the car business. it would pull down the company’s gross profit margins, Munster said. He says it is more likely that Apple will come out with a television set than a car within the next five years.

Not everyone is convinced Apple will produce a car.

In a blog post on Monday Note on Sunday, former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassee says the speculation doesn’t add up.

The fantastic Apple Car is a fantasy, he wrote.