In trading on Tuesday shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to above $533. That’s the highest level the company’s stock has been trading at in months, and it will give some hope to the company’s investors. Shares in the Cupertino firm are still down for the full year 2013, and there still seems very little upside on the horizon at Apple.

The most obvious reason for the recent rise in the company’s shares is the release of its new range of tablet computers. Though the iPad Mini with Retina display faces supply issues, and both it and the iPad Air face huge competition, it appears the tablets are doing well. Coupled with another successful iPhone launch and the incoming holiday season sales, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) looks good in the short run.

Apple Shares Price Recovery

The last time Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares stood at their current level was in January of 2013. The company’s shareholders have had an awful 2013, and they will be praying for it to end. For the full year shares are actually up a small fraction, though a high of more than $549 was set in the opening days of January. The fall in the price of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares stunned analysts and made them rethink their models for the company.

The company’s recovery has not been quite as dramatic. Since the build up to the launch of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c, shares in the company have been recovering at a reasonable rate. The mid-July drop to less than $400 per share appears to have been recognized as a pricing mistake, and the market is looking for a fairer value for the shares.

For investors in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the real question is whether or not there’s any chance of a more substantial recovery in the coming months. Apple has been doing well, and it appears the company will release a new product line some time next year, but there’s no real line for what the company needs to do to force shares upward.

Apple Needs To Grow

In order to increase its share price, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) needs to grow. This is obvious. What may not be so obvious is the ways in which the company can manage growth at this juncture. The iPhone is about as good as it can be, the iPad is building solidly and everything else is decoration.

In order to spur growth in its share price, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) needs to do one of three things. It needs to release a new product, it needs to move aggressively into enterprise, or it needs to expand massively into China. The first is likely in the coming year, the second will probably never happen, and the third is a difficult one to predict.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) investors should be happy with the performance of the company’s shares in recent weeks. They shouldn’t expect an explosion in value any time soon, however. Apple is a strong company, but upsides are difficult to see.

Disclosure: Author represents that he has no position in any stocks mentioned in this article at the time this article was submitted.