With Apple stock in record-high territory, a longtime Apple bull on Thursday raised his price target to the highest level on Wall Street.
Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives maintained his outperform rating on Apple stock and increased his 12-month price target to 325 from 300.
In morning trades on the stock market today, Apple stock hit a record high of 260.09.
Apple stock ended the regular session up 0.3% to 259.02.
"We believe Apple is heading into a multiyear AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle that is still being underestimated by the Street," Ives said in a client note. "Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will Apple's AI strategy, but the seeds of that strategy with Apple Intelligence are now forming and will transform the Apple consumer growth narrative over the coming years."
He added that "a golden era of growth (for Apple) is now on the horizon into 2025."
Apple kicked off its artificial intelligence strategy with the iPhone 16 smartphone family, which launched on Sept. 20.
It then added its first AI features, branded Apple Intelligence, in a software update on Oct. 28. The company released a second batch of AI features on Dec. 11. Those Apple Intelligence features are only available for newer iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.
Ives says he believes a wave of AI apps being developed will accelerate Apple services revenue along with catalyzing iPhone upgrades over the next 12 to 18 months.
BTIG Cautious On Apple Stock After Run
Meanwhile, research firm BTIG on Thursday urged caution on Apple stock heading into January.
BTIG analyst Jonathan Krinsky noted that Apple last week posted its fifth consecutive weekly gain of 2% or more. But one-month forward returns following such streaks have been quite negative for the company, he said in a report.
With Apple "once again the world's most valuable company and nearing a $4 trillion market cap, we would be cautious on the stock heading into January," Krinsky said.
Year to date, Apple stock has soared more than 34%. It has a market capitalization of over $3.91 trillion.
Apple stock is on the IBD Tech Leaders list.
Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
