The target price rises to $350! Wedbush believes Apple (AAPL.US) will welcome the first year of AI and iPhone 17 sales explosion next year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Wedbush published a research report to raise the target price of Apple (AAPL.US) from $320 to $350 and maintain a “outperforming market” rating. Meanwhile, Apple continues to be on the “IVES AI 30” winner list.

A team of analysts led by Dan Ives said, “We raised our target price from $320 to $350, based on the core basis that 2026 will be the first year for Apple to truly participate in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Furthermore, we believe that the iPhone 17 sales momentum will continue until the end of the year, and the performance of the Chinese market is just as impressive. Apple's performance growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 is expected to surpass Wall Street expectations, and the upcoming holiday shopping season is expected to further boost its performance.”

Analysts added that Apple has begun sorting out and formulating a comprehensive AI strategy for the next year. The new leadership layout in this key area marks the beginning of the company's strategic transformation. They stressed that in early 2026, if Apple can officially announce cooperation with Gemini, a subsidiary of Google (GOOGL.US), in the field of AI, it will be a key turning point in the future development of the two companies. This is also an important moment to test the effectiveness of Apple's AI strategy.

The Ives team said, “Currently, the core challenge facing Apple is still a gap in the outside world's perception of its AI strategy. With the world's largest user base of 2.4 billion iOS devices and 1.5 billion iPhones, Apple has reached a critical point in accelerating the AI business.”

Analysts expect that in the next few years, the commercialization of the AI business is expected to contribute 75 to 100 US dollars of value-added space per share of Apple's stock price.

The analyst also said, “We believe Tim Cook will be Apple's CEO at least until the end of 2027 to lead the company through this critical AI technology transformation.”

Last week, Apple announced that John Giannandrea, the senior vice president responsible for machine learning and AI strategy, will step down from his current position and serve as a corporate consultant before retiring in the spring of 2026. The position will be taken over by AI researcher Amar Subramanya, who will join Apple from Microsoft (MSFT.US). He worked at Google for 16 years, and was promoted from senior research scientist to vice president of engineering, and was deeply involved in the research and development of AI assistant Gemini.

The Ives team commented, “We think Subramanya's joining is just the right time. As 2026 approaches, Apple's AI strategy has entered the countdown phase. Bringing in external talent is a necessary step for Apple to optimize its AI strategy. This move will inject a new corporate culture and development genes into the company and drive the continuous advancement of the AI business.”

Analysts believe that based on current stock prices, the market has yet to incorporate the “AI premium” into Apple's valuation system, which also makes Apple a very attractive large-scale technology stock for investment at the end of the year and 2026.

The Ives team further stated, “We expect Cook and his management team will push for major adjustments to Apple's AI strategy by bringing in more external talent to help the company get back on track on the AI track. At the same time, Apple is also fully preparing to launch the AI version of Siri in mid-2026.”