It hasn’t been a good few days for tech giant Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), mostly due to a series of legal setbacks that left the stock and the company on the back foot. However, things turned around a little today, as Bank of America weighed in positively on Apple’s future, sending shares up nearly 3% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
Apple got a show of support from Bank of America as analysts led by Wamsi Mohan declared that the combination of artificial intelligence and the Vision Pro system was likely to prove valuable upside drivers for Apple. Bank of America upgraded its position from Neutral to Buy and hiked the price target from $208 to $225 per share, demonstrating a tangible level of support.
Further, it pointed out that the arrival of AI and the Vision Pro would likely mean a boost to iPhone sales, as users were going to need upgraded hardware to put the new and desirable technologies to work. That also opens up room for gains in the services sector and may even draw new investors in.
Are Apple’s Best Growth Years Behind It?
While Bank of America has high hopes for the Vision Pro acting as a catalyst for Apple, will it really have that much impact? One report noted that the virtual reality headset is unlikely to change the view that Apple’s best years of growth are behind it. Several analysts are projecting that the $3,499 device will have fairly sluggish sales, not surprising given the macroeconomic picture. With inflation still rampant and a lot of Christmas shopping already done on the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) plan, many households likely won’t have spare cash sufficient to even make this catalyst that active in the first place.
What is the Forecast for Apple Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 24 Buys, eight Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 39.63% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AAPL price target of $203.89 per share implies 8.61% upside potential.
