Mark Tepper, CEO of Strategic Wealth Partners, said during an appearance on “Varney & Co.” that Zoetis is a “great opportunity” for investors and revealed his top picks.
iPhone maker Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s most valuable company from tech rival Microsoft during Wednesday’s trading session after unveiling new artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives this week.
Apple’s shares were up 5% to about $217.50 a share as of early Wednesday afternoon, after its market capitalization surpassed $3.29 trillion earlier in the trading session.
By comparison, Microsoft’s market capitalization is $3.24 trillion, falling below Apple’s for the first time in five months.
This comes after Apple shares rose more than 7% on Tuesday, a day after the company announced a range of new AI-enabled features for its devices.
Apple’s intelligence will benefit future iPhone sales: analyst
Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s most valuable company from Microsoft during Wednesday’s trading session. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
At Apple’s annual developers conference on Monday, CEO Tim Cook and other executives touted how AI will help the company’s voice assistant, Siri, better interact with messages, email, calendars and third-party apps.
| Ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | Apple. | 213.07 | +5.92 | +2.86% |
Market analysts praised the announcement, saying the new AI-powered features would help boost iPhone sales and boost Apple’s shares, which have been seen as lagging behind rivals in the AI race.
“Any doubts about Apple lagging behind in terms of AI technology were put to rest at the Worldwide Developers Conference,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
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Attendees watch the keynote address at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“When you look at the details of the AI features expected to be included in the next iPhone, you can see that there is certainly demand for a significant upgrade cycle,” James added.
The move comes after Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet overtook Apple in AI last year, helping Microsoft’s market capitalization surpass Apple’s in recent months.
Apple unveils “Apple Intelligence” at WWDC
Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California on Monday. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks, only Tesla is poised to perform worse than Apple in 2024 so far, with shares of the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker falling about 27% while Apple is up 17%.
Nvidia, the market leader in AI chips, briefly overtook Apple’s market capitalization last week, rising 161% year-to-date to reach $3.1 trillion.
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This week’s announcement came after Apple beat market expectations with quarterly earnings and outlook in May, easing concerns about its stock price, and also unveiled a record $110 billion share repurchase plan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
