Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock bump on Monday shows just how eagerly investors are waiting for signs that the company is serious about artificial intelligence, according to Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster.
What Happened: Shares of Apple rose 2.03% on Monday -- outperforming the broader Nasdaq -- after a report emerged that the tech giant is exploring using large language models from OpenAI or Anthropic to power a revamped version of Siri by spring 2026.
Following this, Munster took to X, formerly Twitter, and said the "move is testimony to how low the investor AI bar is for AAPL."
See Also: Pierre Ferragu Takes Apple To Task For Dismissing The AI Revolution: ';Has Its Head In The Sand’
Munster also said that “the iPhone bar is low.” Apple's biggest moneymaker is still the iPhone, but Wall Street analysts aren't expecting big growth: just 1% growth in iPhone sales in the financial year 25 and 4% the year after.
“The next few quarters should benefit from upgrades following that monster 39% iPhone growth in FY21,” he said.
Why It's Important: Wall Street has been skeptical about Apple's AI strategy, especially as competitors like Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), aggressively push new AI features.
Reports have also surfaced suggesting Apple was considering a deal to acquire Perplexity AI. However, the startup says it has no information about any such discussions taking place.
Apple currently has a consensus price target of $231.44, based on the ratings from 32 analysts. The latest analyst ratings, from JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Wedbush, have an average price target of $245, indicating a potential upside of 19.26%.
Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro data, Apple's stock is down 15.86% so far this year and has slipped 5.34% over the last 12 months.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that Apple's shares continue to trend lower across short, medium and long-term periods. Additional performance details can be found here.
Photo courtesy: jamesteohart / Shutterstock.com
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
