Wedbush Securities senior technology analyst Dan Ives, architect of the Dan IVES Wedbush AI Revolution ETF, released his list of the “top five names to play the AI revolution into 2026.”

Most are relatively uncontroversial picks: Microsoft, Tesla, Palantir, and CrowdStrike.

And then there’s Apple.

That one should raise a lot of eyebrows for anyone who’s been paying attention to the Cupertino-based company’s AI strategy (or lack thereof), as Ives admits:

“The elephant in the room remains the invisible AI strategy, with the biggest consumer installed base in the world of 2.4 billion iOS devices and 1.5 billion iPhones, the time is now for Apple to accelerate its AI efforts. We believe the AI monetization piece could add $75 to $100 per share to the Apple story over the coming few years as it finally plays out after a head scratching AI strategy this year in Apple Park. We also believe Tim Cook will remain CEO of Apple through at least the end of 2027 to see Apple through this key AI technology transition in Cupertino.”

There’s certainly one way to skin a cat: Apple can become an “AI winner” by reaping the fruits (pun intended) of everyone else’s capex and applying those advances and features to its already very sticky user base of hardware and services.

But a more pointed, investment-forward AI strategy that looks like the rest of its megacap tech peers would risk Apple becoming something it’s not, and undercutting why investors find value (and seek safety) in the iPhone maker’s shares.

Apple has behaved very differently from its Big Tech peers this year. Its modest success has largely come down to two factors: the natural upgrade cycle boosting iPhone sales, and the fact that it’s not really an AI stock.

Apple’s performance in 2025 is a throwback to the days of not so long ago when tech companies simply made a gazillion dollars and used a big chunk of that to make themselves smaller via share repurchases.

In its most recent quarter, Apple returned $20 billion to shareholders through buybacks alone. (It also pays a modest dividend.) That’s more than the share repurchases for Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle combined.

Apple can be a better AI company than it is now, sure. Recent personnel changes suggest Tim Cook and co. are very aware of this! But leaning less into capex relative to Apple’s megacap peers may be what’s earned it a place in many portfolios, and a meaningful shift away from that could make it just like any other AI company, with the added disadvantage of being seen as late to the game.

For now, investors are seemingly very willing to pay up for its formula of profits equal shareholder returns, as Apple’s forward price-to-earnings ratio is the second-highest among Magnificent 7 stocks (behind Tesla, of course).