Apple on the way to becoming a 4 trillion company
Is Apple on the brink of a multi-year AI upswing? Stock market analysts predict this – also because the cycle at the iPhone manufacturer is still underestimated
Apple Store in Shanghai: huge potential thanks to AI.
(Image: Jerry Zhang, unsplash.com; Montage: Mac & i)
Apple has had a good year on the stock market: the iPhone manufacturer's enterprise value rose by a good 40 percent. Although the company temporarily lost the crown of the most expensive company on the US markets to Microsoft and Nvidia, at the end of the year the Group was back at the top with 3.79 trillion US dollars. The question now is whether it will stay that way. Some stock market analysts believe that Apple shares on the New York technology exchange NASDAQ have even more opportunities to rise, possibly becoming the first stock to exceed a market cap of 4 trillion dollars. The reason for this is the (possibly) insufficiently exploited AI potential of the iPhone in particular.
iPhone 16 comparatively disappointing so far
Daniel Ives, an analyst known as the "Apple bull" at investment firm Wedbush Securities, wrote in a report to investors before the turn of the year that the iPhone 16 cycle was only "the beginning of a new era for Cupertino". Ives raised his price target from 300 dollars to 325 dollars. To put this into perspective: the share is currently trading at around 250 dollars. He sees a "golden era of growth on the horizon for 2025". Apple is facing a "multi-year, AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle that has so far been underestimated by Wall Street".
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However, the iPhone 16 is only expected to sell at the same level as the iPhone 15. In September, there were even analysts who predicted lower demand. One of the problems with this was that Apple Intelligence is only available in individual markets so far – and the functionality has so far been rated below average. The features are still beta anyway, and some even have bugs. However, Ives does not see these concerns. Apple's approach of proceeding rather cautiously when it comes to AI will pay off.
Slow strategy should pay off
"Rome wasn't built in a day and it's the same with Apple's AI strategy." The "seeds" that will shape Apple's "end customer growth narrative" in the coming years are currently visible. Wedbush Securities expects "hundreds of apps around Apple Intelligence", which could offer great potential for Apple in the high-growth services business.
Accordingly, Ives sees a wave of upgrades in the next 12 to 18 months. "We believe that Apple will cross the 4 trillion dollar market capitalization threshold and become the first member of this exclusive club," says the Wedbush analyst. Other analysts such as Samik Chatterjee from JPMorgan also see growth potential for Apple, particularly with the iPhone 17, which is due to be released in the fall.
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