Apple shares rose more than 7% to an all-time high in Tuesday’s market close, a day after unveiling new artificial intelligence features aimed at boosting the appeal of its devices, including the iPhone, under the “Apple” umbrella. Intelligence”.
The rally is a respite for stocks, which have underperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index this year as Apple grapples with weak sales of its premium consumer devices. Apple could add the better part of $200 billion to its market value if the current share price of $207 is maintained.
At $3.18 trillion, its market capitalization is tens of billions below that of Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia, the biggest benefactor of the rise of AI applications and number three in terms of market value, is worth $2.97 trillion.
At its annual developer event that began Monday, Apple revealed an improved Siri virtual assistant that can answer a wider range of queries and perform more complicated tasks than before, and several artificial intelligence features in its apps that will be included with the devices. latest operating systems. for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.
At least 13 analysts raised their price targets for Apple shares after the developer event, saying the latest features could encourage a cascade of new purchases as the company prepares to announce a new line of iPhones in the fall.
“Apple is demonstrating that it is investing in the evolution of its platform and devices to enable the next era of computing, interfaces and experiences,” said Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen.
