Apple CEO Tim Cook will deliver the keynote address at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino on Monday, and analysts at Wedbush are expecting investors to come away impressed.
The firm reiterated its Outperform rating and $205 price target in a note to clients published Sunday.
“We expect WWDC to be another ‘flex the muscles moment' for Cupertino heading into a robust product cycle into the next 6-9 months led by the anniversary iPhone 15 launch this Fall into its golden installed base,” analysts wrote.
The first thing to watch for is150 the reveal of an Apple augmented reality (AR) headset called Reality Pro, which is expected to cost roughly $3,000, the firm said.
“The goal for Apple on Reality Pro after years of development and R&D in the labs of Apple Park is around a device with extended reality focused on gaming, streaming video, conferencing capabilities, health/ fitness apps, with a range of capabilities that Apple will integrate with its other devices,” the analysts noted. “While other AR headsets have shown tepid success such as Meta's Quest we believe Apple's Reality Pro will come with many apps and use cases that will distinguish this new product within the Cupertino hardware arsenal.”
Wedbush projects shipments to be roughly 150,000 units in the first year, citing recent Asia supply chain checks.
The second pillar of WWDC is expected to be artificial intelligence. That will be especially interesting to monitor, analysts said, as Apple has been quieter than other players like Microsoft and Alphabet in the space.
“We believe this is about to change as we are expecting Cook & Co. to discuss Apple's AI strategy looking ahead and how the company can integrate and ultimately monetize its customer base around future generative AI coming from Cupertino,” analysts wrote. “We expect Apple to head down the path to have its own AI-driven solution that will be integrated within the Apple ecosystem and enable consumers to further tap into their iOS data, video, music, applications, and Apple devices through next-generation AI capabilities.”
They continued, “[O]verall WWDC in our opinion will be music to the ears of consumers, investors, and developers.”
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel