Shares of Apple Inc. rose on Tuesday, briefly hitting a new record high as investors' sentiment toward the iPhone maker improved. Shares rose as much as 7.26% to $207.15. The stock is up more than 20% from its April low, a rally that has added more than $500 billion to its market capitalization and returned it to over $3 trillion in market value.
At its Worldwide Developers Conference this year the company revealed a series of features related to artificial intelligence and announced a partnership with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Many investors had said that Apple was lagging behind other technology companies in that area.
Analysts said these services could motivate customers to pay more for the next generation of iPhones. Financial services firm DA Davidson upgraded its rating on the stock from neutral to buy following the event.
AI features “could lead to a necessary iPhone refresh cycle,” wrote analyst Gil Luria. “Apple relies not only on consumer information, but also on their trust.” He wrote that Apple can offer these features in an integrated way in a way that other chat apps, PCs or Android devices do not exist.
This would be the growth catalyst that investors have been longing for. In May, Apple reported positive results, which served to calm investors. That month he also announced the largest stock recovery program in US history, at $110 billion.
That report also boosted its values, and May was the best month for Apple shares since July 2022. However, despite the record share price, Apple is only up 3.7% this year, compared to 13% for the Nasdaq 100.
Stocks with the most exposure to AI, such as Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc and Meta Platforms Inc, are posting double-digit gains, while chipmaker Nvidia Corp. has soared 146%, quickly surpassing Apple's market value.
Among the so-called Magnificent Seven, only Tesla Inc. has performed worse. The electric vehicle maker has fallen more than 30% this year.
