Apple Inc. shares moved into positive territory for the first time since early this year on Wednesday, just as analysts were chatting about a technical pattern that could be opening the door to more gains.

Shares AAPL, -3.17% rose 0.8% in midday trade, putting them on course to close at the highest level since Dec. 30. The last, and only other time, that Apple shares closed above where they ended 2015--$105.26--was on Jan. 4.

In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.87% was down 0.9% year to date, and has never closed in positive territory on the year.

Some potentially good news for Apple investors comes via a so-called tea-cup-with-handle pattern that chart watchers have been chattering about, and which they say could point to a bullish period ahead for shares.

The pattern’s name describes a security that rises to a significant high, then stalls. The subsequent pullback and rally back up to resistance at the previous peak takes the shape of a rounded bottom, or “cup.” A second, much shallower rounded pullback, followed by a return to previous resistance forms the “handle.”

The bullish pattern is completed when the security breaks above previous resistance. Preferably the breakout would occur on relatively high volume, and would produce a gap in the charts between that session’s intraday low and the previous session’s intraday high.

Dragonfly Capital’s Greg Harmon blogged Tuesday about Apple’s cup-with-handle pattern and said it could be marching toward $114, which is more than 8% above current levels. Here’s his chart that shows the pattern clearly:

Dragonfly Capital

The low in Apple’s stock on Tuesday was $103.85, above Monday’s high of $102.91. Volume jumped to 40.1 million shares on Tuesday, from 25.1 million shares on Monday.

Apple’s stock got a boost Tuesday after Morgan Stanley estimated that more iPhone units will be sold early this year than seen, putting sales ahead of 2016 views. The iPhone maker is expected to release a smaller four-inch version of its flagship smartphone at a product event next week.

Read: Apple’s stock could suffer from the ‘triple threat’ of iPhone risks

Others chimed in on the pattern Wednesday:

In the bigger tech picture, Arthur Hill, blogging for Don’t Ignore This Chart, has also been talking about some up moves for technology.

In an entry on Monday, he noted that the Technology SPDR ETF XLK, -1.72% has become a leader among sector ETFs. The tech ETF busted higher in March, and Hill said as long as recent support levels hold, that breakout is “bullish.” Here’s that chart:

Note, Apple accounts for 14% of that tech ETF. Read more from Hill here.