Apple stock soars 7% to record highs after AI-focused WWDC event

• Apple stock soared 7% to a record high as investors cheered developments unveiled at its WWDC event.
• Apple gained as much as $198 billion in market value on Tuesday.

Apple stock soared as much as 7% on Tuesday to a record high above $200 per share.

The gains came a day after Apple's keynote presentation at its WWDC event, which was heavily centered on its new generative AI software offerings.

The stock initially sold off, with Apple shares falling 2% on Monday following the WWDC event.

But after a slew of positive analyst notes from Wall Street, Apple shares are soaring, with the company adding about $198 billion in market value on Tuesday at its peak.

Analysts at Citi said it was the "best WWDC ever" while analyst at Goldman Sachs said the integration of ChatGPT and a more conversational Siri assistant should help drive an upgrade cycle across its iPhone and Mac devices.

That's because the new AI features will only work on the iPhone 15 Pro model or later, and only with Macs that have the M1 processor chip or later.

"We're encouraged by the financial implication of today's announcements, with product features that should help to drive upgrade demand for products," Goldman Sachs said.

Finally, JPMorgan said the fact that the iPhone 15 Pro will be able to run the new AI features will become an important selling point for emerging markets after the iPhone 16 is released in September.

"It will serve to accelerate the AI-related upgrade cycle in multiple emerging markets where local market demographics lead Apple to focus marketing on the last generation of the iPhone line up with affordability for the consumer in mind," JPMorgan said.

Tuesday's gain for Apple has re-cemented the iPhone maker as the second largest company in the world, reclaiming the spot from Nvidia.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Apple is only $22 billion away from eclipsing Microsoft to once again become the most valuable company in the world.