Apple shares soared to a new high of $207.15 per share on Tuesday, up 7% from the previous day. The surge comes as Apple announced major advancements in artificial intelligence at its annual developer conference on Monday. ( The FOMC meeting started, and the U.S. stock market index fell in disfavor )
During the WWDC conference, Apple launched a series of new AI features, including a newly revamped Siri voice assistant, ChatGPT integration with OpenAI, various writing assistance tools, and customizable emojis. Apple calls these features "AI for ordinary people," but users may need to upgrade their iPhones to use them. ( WWDC 2024 keynote: Apple launches major overhauls of Apple Intelligence and Siri, as well as private payments )
Record share price performance
Apple's stock price surpassed its all-time record set on December 14 last year. The WWDC developer conference is a highly anticipated event, and investors are looking forward to seeing how Apple capitalizes on the current AI boom. It seems that the stock price performance shows that investors are quite satisfied.
Analyst View: AAPL Sees 270
Analysts at Morgan Stanley praised Apple's new AI capabilities, saying they create "the most differentiated digital representation of the consumer." They expect these innovations to encourage users to upgrade their iPhones, potentially accelerating the device replacement cycle. Morgan Stanley maintains an Overweight (buy) rating on Apple, with a target price of $216 and an optimistic valuation of $270. Bank of America analysts also predict that AI-driven “smartphones” will bring about a wave of upgrades. They reiterated their buy rating on Apple stock, citing the potential for a multi-year upgrade cycle, the potential for gross margin improvement and services growth. Evercore analysts believe that there is "increased confidence" in Apple's AI strategy. They believe that Apple's approach will encourage users to upgrade their devices, especially by limiting new AI features to the latest iPhone models.
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