Apple rallies as new AI features promise sales boost

Apple shares climbed 6% to a record high today, a day after unveiling new artificial intelligence features meant to increase the appeal of its devices, including the iPhone.

The rally comes as a breather for the stock, which has underperformed versus the benchmark S&P 500 this year, as Apple grapples with weak sales for its premium consumer gadgets.

Apple stands to add $180 billion to its market value if the current stock price of $205 holds.

At $3.15 trillion, its market capitalization is just $40 billion shy of Microsoft’s, the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia, the largest benefactor of a boom in AI applications and number three in terms of market value, is at $2.93 trillion.

At its annual developer event that kicked off on Monday, Apple unveiled an improved Siri virtual assistant that can answer a wider range of queries and accomplish more complicated tasks than earlier, 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, and said 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.

Apple’s shares closed 1.9% lower on Monday but were up 6% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 rose 12% in the same period.