Stock price of Apple hits record high after releasing AI software unaffected by FOMC meeting
Apple’s stock price soared to a new high of $207.15 per share on Tuesday, up 7% from the previous day. This surge was due to Apple’s major advancements in artificial intelligence announced at Monday’s annual developer conference.
During the WWDC conference, Apple unveiled a series of new AI features, including a revamped Siri voice assistant, integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, various writing assistance tools, and customizable emojis. Apple referred to these features as “AI for the rest of us,” but users may need to upgrade their iPhones to access them.
Apple’s stock price surpassed its previous all-time high set on December 14th of last year. The WWDC developer conference is a highly anticipated event, and investors were eager to see how Apple would leverage the current AI trend. Judging from the stock price performance, investors seem quite satisfied.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley praised Apple’s new AI features, calling them the “most differentiated consumer digital representation.” They expect these innovations to encourage users to upgrade their iPhones, potentially accelerating the device replacement cycle. Morgan Stanley maintains an Overweight rating on Apple with a target price of $216 and an optimistic valuation of $270.
Analysts at Bank of America also predict that AI-driven “smartphones” will lead to an upgrade cycle. They reiterated their Buy rating on Apple’s stock, mentioning the potential for a multi-year upgrade cycle, the possibility of margin improvement, and service growth.
Evercore analysts believe that confidence in Apple’s AI strategy is increasing. They think Apple’s approach will encourage users to upgrade their devices, especially since the new AI features are limited to the latest iPhone models.
