Key Takeaways

• Apple stock has been on a hot streak alongside a broader AI and tech rally. Next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference could serve as the next catalyst.

• Analysts have said they expect to see AI features including a revamped Siri, which has been delayed several times in the last two years.

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled to kick off Monday. The event looks set to follow what has been a strong stretch for the stock.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) have risen about 14% since the start of the year through Wednesday’s close, outpacing the S&P 500 and recently rallying into record territory above $315; the shares closed today around $310. Strong earnings reports from Apple and its tech peers have helped drive renewed enthusiasm around AI and the broader tech trade.

Why This Matters to Investors

A number of delays to previously announced AI features, including an upgraded Siri, have weighed on Apple stock in recent years. New details about the AI features and a clear timeline for when they will be released could be a positive catalyst for the stock.

Bank of America analysts lifted their price target to $380 from $330 ahead of the event; both numbers are ahead of the Visible Alpha mean of analysts’ targets, which is near $322. The analysts said that as the capabilities of AI agents grow, the company that owns the device and platform where the agents run will become more valuable than the model behind the agents. That, they said, could benefit Apple with its broad penetration of iPhones if it can make Siri a dominant AI agent.

The iPhone maker is expected to unveil a number of new AI features, including an enhanced Siri that investors and customers have been waiting for since Apple first announced it at the WWDC in 2024. JPMorgan analysts said they expect to see a redesigned Siri with new capabilities, along with a potential standalone Siri chatbot app that would compete with ChatGPT and Claude.

“The announcement of a new AI-enhanced Siri, controllable through voice or a new text-based interface, will be the key development in focus by investors, serving as the first evaluation point in understanding whether Apple’s new AI features could be a medium-term demand driver for iPhone and/or drive new Services revenue streams,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote Tuesday.

The JPMorgan analysts said they expect the event to “serve as the kickoff point for a more robust launch cadence” ahead of Apple’s fall product launch schedule, which could include the first foldable iPhone.