Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) was awarded a higher price target by Bank of America analysts, who lifted their target to $380 from $330 and reiterating its Buy rating, citing the company’s positioning to capitalize on the emerging “agentic AI” smartphone opportunity.
Apple shares were little changed at $309 on Tuesday afternoon, up almost 14% in the year to date.
The analysts believe that the shift toward “agentic AI,” where artificial intelligence systems can complete tasks, manage workflows, and interact across applications on behalf of users, could strengthen Apple’s position because of its control over both hardware and software across the iPhone ecosystem.
“If AI assistants become the new front door to search, apps, commerce, scheduling, payments, and workflow completion, we think Apple should have meaningful leverage over model providers, app developers, merchants, advertisers, and payment networks,” the analysts wrote.
Bank of America believes the smartphone is likely to remain the primary consumer device where user identity, authentication, payments, permissions, and personal context converge, positioning Apple to benefit as AI assistants become more deeply integrated into daily digital activity.
The firm argued Apple’s control of its custom silicon and iOS operating system provides an advantage in handling AI inference both on-device and through cloud infrastructure. According to the analysts, on-device processing is expected to be important for reducing latency, improving reliability, enhancing privacy, and lowering costs associated with AI services.
The analysts wrote that Apple will likely rely on a combination of on-device compute, its Private Cloud Compute infrastructure, and third-party cloud providers to support more advanced AI functionality. They also suggested Apple’s recent decision to move away from maintaining a cash-neutral balance sheet could reflect a period of increased AI-related investment.
Bank of America wrote that Apple’s next major objective will be transforming Siri into what it described as the “execution layer” of the iPhone. They outlined several priorities for the company, including improving AI-focused hardware capabilities in future iPhones, scaling hybrid AI inference, and evolving Siri into an assistant capable of understanding user intent, retrieving contextual information, interacting with apps, and completing workflows.
They also highlighted the importance of Apple’s App Intents framework, which allows apps to expose actions that can be accessed programmatically by AI systems, as well as the company’s focus on maintaining user trust through permissions, authentication, and confirmation features built into iOS.
Bank of America estimated that a more advanced “agentic” Siri platform could generate between $15 billion and $30 billion in incremental revenue by fiscal 2030 in its base-case scenario, with a potential bull-case opportunity of $40 billion to $65 billion. The firm added that the opportunity could contribute as much as $2 in incremental earnings per share over time.
The analysts noted that execution remains the key near-term risk as Apple works to expand its AI capabilities while maintaining the privacy and trust standards associated with its ecosystem.