Apple will be the top-performing FAANG stock in 2021 despite Google's double-digit head start, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster says

• Loup Ventures' Gene Munster doubled down on his bet that Apple will be the top-performing FAANG stock in 2021 on Thursday.
• Munster said Apple's recent quarter was the best in a decade in an interview with CNBC.
• The Loup Ventures' managing partner added that Apple has room to grow in EVs, hardware as a service, and mixed reality.

Apple is set to outperform its FAANG stock competition in 2021, according to Loup Ventures' Gene Munster.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Munster discussed the recent big tech earnings season and lauded Apple's performance.

"I have a prediction that Apple's going to be the top-performing FAANG for 2021. I'm well behind Google right now, I think they're up 30% to 40%, Apple's just up fractionally, but I continue to stand behind that," Munster said.

Munster added that Apple's recent quarter was the best he has seen in a decade and that he believes the stock will move to $200 per share.

Apple's revenue jumped 54% to $89.6 billion in its latest quarterly report. The company also notched a profit of $23.6 billion and increased its cash dividend by 7% increase to $0.22 per share.

Management authorized an increase of $90 billion to Apple's existing share-repurchase program as well. Analysts mostly reacted positively to the stand-out quarter.

Wedbush's Dan Ives called the performance a "drop the mic" moment for Apple and CEO Tim Cook.

Munster said that naysayers will argue this quarter's outstanding performance isn't sustainable with touch comps ahead, but he believes Apple will continue to prove the bears wrong by moving into new lines of business.

To Munster's point, Bank of America's Wamsi Mohan maintained his "neutral" rating on Apple after the company's blowout quarter.

Mohan told CNBC that antitrust risks, a potential corporate tax increase, and tough comparisons to previous quarters that were boosted by the work-from-home trend could drag on the stock in the coming months.

Gene Munster disagrees, noting that Apple has new opportunities in hardware as a service (renting Macs, iPhones, iPad in bundled form), mixed reality, and electric vehicles that will buoy the company moving forward.

Munster said that "transformative tech" companies like Apple will continue to make strides, despite questions about lofty valuations.