Apple shares surged over 7 per cent to a record high yesterday, nearly regaining from Microsoft its crown as the world’s most valuable company a day after it unveiled new AI features meant to rekindle demand for iPhones.
Yesterday’s rally came as Apple trails the S&P 500 .SPX in 2024 due to waning iPhone sales and concerns on Wall Street that the company is lagging other technology heavyweights in a race to dominate emerging artificial intelligence technology.
Apple’s stock climbed 7.3 per cent to end the day at US$207.15 (RM977.65).
With a market capitalization of US$3.18 trillion, Apple was just behind Microsoft at US$3.22 trillion, and just ahead of AI chip powerhouse Nvidia NVDA.O at US$2.97 trillion.
All three are in a tight race to be the world’s most valuable company.
At its annual developer event on Monday, Apple unveiled an improved Siri virtual assistant that can answer a wider range of queries and accomplish more complicated tasks than earlier versions, and several AI features across its apps that will be shipped with the latest operating systems for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.
At least 13 analysts raised their price targets on Apple’s shares after the developer event, with some saying the latest features could encourage a cascade of new purchases as the company prepares to announce a new line of iPhones in autumn.
“Apple is demonstrating that it is invested in evolving its platform and devices to enable the next era of computing, interfaces and experiences,” Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen said. — REUTERS
