Apple shares rose 6% to a record high on Tuesday, a day after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence features to make its products, including the iPhone, more appealing.
The gains offer a breather for Apple shares, which have been struggling with sluggish sales of premium consumer devices and have underperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index this year.
If the stock price remains at its current price of $205, Apple’s market capitalization will increase by $180 billion.
The company’s market capitalization is $3.15 trillion, just $40 billion shy of that of Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company.
Nvidia, the biggest beneficiary of the boom in AI applications, is the third-largest company by market capitalization, with a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion.
At its annual developer event that began on Monday, Apple unveiled a revamped version of its Siri virtual assistant that can answer a wider range of questions and accomplish more complex tasks, as well as several app-wide AI features coming to its latest operating system for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.
At least 13 analysts raised their price targets for Apple’s stock after the developer event, saying the company’s latest features could spark a flurry of new purchases as it prepares to unveil new iPhones this fall.
“Apple is demonstrating its investment in evolving its platforms and devices to enable the next generation of computing, interfaces and experiences,” said Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen.
Apple shares closed down 1.9% on Monday but are up 6% this year while the S&P 500 is up 12% in the same period.
