New York, May 26, 2026, 09:07 EDT
- Bank of America raised its Apple target to $380 from $330, putting Siri and AI monetization back at the center of the stock debate.
- Apple traded at $308.82 before the bell, close enough to revive split speculation, though the company has not announced one.
- China handset data and next month’s developer conference give investors two near-term checks on the story.
Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 on Tuesday, a fresh bullish call that put the iPhone maker in the spotlight before the opening bell as investors weighed its artificial-intelligence push and renewed talk of a possible stock split. Apple shares were indicated higher in early trading.
The timing matters. Apple is less than two weeks from its Worldwide Developers Conference, where investors expect more detail on Siri and other AI features after a slower start than rivals. The company has been testing upgrades that could let Siri handle more complex requests, including multiple commands at once.
BofA’s case rests on “agentic AI,” software that can take several steps on a user’s behalf rather than just answer a prompt. The firm said a Siri-linked rollout could add $15 billion to $30 billion of revenue by fiscal 2030, or $40 billion to $65 billion if adoption is broader, according to Seeking Alpha. Seeking Alpha
Apple traded at $308.82 before the bell, up about 1.2% from its previous close. A $380 target would put the stock roughly 23% above that level, though broker targets are estimates, not company guidance.
The company has given investors a firmer base than it had a year ago. Apple reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $111.2 billion, up 17%, and diluted earnings of $2.01 a share, up 22%. Chief Executive Tim Cook called it Apple’s “best March quarter ever” and cited “extraordinary demand” for the iPhone 17 lineup, while finance chief Kevan Parekh said operating cash flow topped $28 billion. Apple
That has fed a second market thread: whether Apple could split its stock again. EBC Financial Group said Apple has made no such announcement, but argued that a move toward $350 would strengthen the case for a 3-for-1 split, while a move toward $400 would revive comparisons with Apple’s 2020 4-for-1 split. A split lowers the quoted share price and raises the share count by the same ratio; it does not change an investor’s ownership stake.
The filing math matters. Apple’s latest quarterly filing showed about 14.69 billion shares outstanding and 50.4 billion shares authorized. A 3-for-1 split would fit under that authorization at current share counts; a 4-for-1 split would not, unless buybacks cut the count enough or shareholders approved more authorized shares.
Momentum traders have also taken notice. Zacks published a note calling Apple a top-ranked momentum stock, a style label that refers to recent price strength rather than a judgment that a company is cheap on fundamentals.
Apple’s AI effort also comes with a competitive edge. Reuters has reported that Apple plans to use Google’s Gemini models for a revamped Siri and is preparing to let users choose third-party AI models in future operating systems, moves that put it more directly into the race with Alphabet, Anthropic and Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
China remains another swing factor. Shipments of foreign-branded mobile phones in China, including Apple’s iPhone, rose 1.8% in April to 3.59 million units, according to data cited by Reuters, while total phone shipments in the country rose 2.8% to 25.73 million units.
But the AI math still has to be proved. Apple has warned in filings that AI features can bring legal, privacy, cybersecurity and product risks, and that tariffs or other trade measures could pressure supply chains and gross margins. A stronger Siri may lift the stock’s story; a late or underwhelming rollout would make the $380 call harder to defend.
For now, the market has two near-term tests: whether Apple can show a more useful AI platform at WWDC, and whether any future filing points to a split. Until the board says so, the split trade remains speculation.
