Although Apple didn’t give many specific updates on its artificial intelligence capabilities in its latest earnings report, top Wall Street analysts are optimistic that the company’s artificial intelligence strategy will help it rebound. Apple reported second-quarter revenue and net profit that were better than expected. Despite year-over-year declines in iPhone and overall sales, investors chose to focus more on the company’s record stock buyback program and optimism about upcoming artificial intelligence updates, pushing the stock up nearly 7% on Friday. AAPL 1D mountain Apple stock on Friday is expected to release more substantive updates on Apple’s latest artificial intelligence product hardware and services at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. JPMorgan’s Samik Chatterjee said the focus during the event will be primarily on the artificial intelligence features Apple will include in its iOS 18 software. “Depending on the importance of the feature and the timing of its release, AI-led upgrades could be driven faster than our base case assumption,” the analyst wrote in a note on Thursday. Artificial Intelligence Expected to Bring Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said Apple has been viewed as an artificial intelligence laggard over the past few months and that the upcoming update will “incentivize institutional clients to increase their expectations for artificial intelligence capabilities.” parts”. Mohan maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised his price target slightly to $230 from $225. “We believe Apple can leverage AI capex at levels not seen elsewhere,” Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani wrote in a note following Thursday’s earnings release. Realizing the benefits of artificial intelligence )’s Erik Woodring said it’s “hard not to be bullish” after earnings and revenue beat expectations and an upcoming announcement about generative artificial intelligence. He also increased his holdings on the stock and slightly raised his price target by $6 to $216 following the earnings release. “Eyes (now) turn to WWDC (June 10) as the trough of earnings revisions now appears to be a thing of the past,” Woodring said in a note on Friday. “Apple is accelerating its focus on generative artificial intelligence. investment and will launch new features at its most important developer conference ever.” Wells Fargo’s Aaron Rakers said the AI announcement could be “enough to be a positive catalyst.” He pointed out that compared with other technology giants, Apple has a differentiated artificial intelligence strategy that focuses more on smaller models, partnerships and device optimization. Rakers reiterated his Overweight rating and $225 stock price target. “Management has repeatedly expressed confidence in how Apple can benefit from Gen AI on the earnings call,” Bank of America’s Mohan said. He added, “We expect Apple to continue to invest in its own silicon (over time). (high-bandwidth memory)) and focus on integrating hardware, software and services to fully capitalize on Gen AI opportunities.” —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
