After a weak start to 2024 marked by decline and stagnation, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) finally rose on the stock market in early May.

The tech giant’s sudden turnaround into the green was likely sparked by a major deal with OpenAI, aimed at integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into future operating systems (OS).

On July 9, AAPL stock gained additional momentum with a flurry of positive news. For example, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) itself endorsed Apple devices for its employees in China, and there is generally strong demand for iPhones in the People’s Republic.

The big result of the positive developments is the impressive stock market rise of AAPL. The technology giant is, at the time of writing, 22.88% in the green year-to-date (YTD) and even 18.15% in the past 30 days. The price of Apple today, at the time of writing, is $228.37.

Expert predicts Apple stock will surge 17% on AI integration alone

While Apple has already faced significant headwinds from its adoption of AI, one leading Wall Street expert – Wedbush’s Dan Ives – believes it’s just the beginning.

The expert has identified Apple as the company that holds the key to consumer adoption of AI technology, explaining that the tech giant’s upcoming iOS 18 is a particularly important step in this leap.

iOS 18 is Apple’s first version to support generative artificial intelligence. iOS is expected to significantly boost adoption, empowering an unprecedented number of people with AI tools and creating significant new revenue streams for the tech giant.

Finally, Ives believes AAPL shares will likely rise by $30 to $40 thanks to the new operating system, giving the leading electronics company a 17% increase.

Wall Street predicts Apple stock price for next 12 months

As might be expected from iOS 18-related predictions, Wedbush is, at the time of writing, the firm behind the most bullish 12-month price target for Apple. In late May, it explained that AAPL shares are not only a “buy,” but that they will also rise to $275 over the next 12 months.

Elsewhere, the overall price target for Apple shares – especially since the company’s overall rating is a “moderate buy” – suggests the tech giant has risen faster than analysts had expected in recent weeks.

While 24 of the 35 experts represented on the stock analysis platform TipRanks If we rank AAPL as a “buy” and only 1 as a “sell,” the average 12-month forecast would see the stock fall 3.45% to $219.96.

Finally, even the lowest target of $164 – reiterated by banking giant Barclays in June – is associated with a “buy” rating for Apple.

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