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Bank of America sends clear message on Apple stock after key event

Apple shares fell 3.64% on June 9 after the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) failed to deliver the major surprises some investors were hoping for.

WWDC is Apple’s important event of the year, where the company usually unveils updates to iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and other products. This year, Wall Street is focused on artificial intelligence and Apple’s long-awaited next-generation Siri.

Apple introduced a rebuilt Siri experience alongside software updates across its ecosystem. The company also announced new AI-powered features for apps, including Safari, Shortcuts, Messages, and Passwords.

But that didn’t satisfy investors who had higher expectations.

“Given the level of optimism into this event, we think the announcement came in a bit shy of expectations,” TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar wrote after the keynote, Barron’s reported.

Sankar said he had expected deeper integration between Apple’s AI capabilities and third-party applications. Instead, many of the new features remain focused on Apple’s own ecosystem.

Still, history suggests investors shouldn’t read too much into a post-WWDC selloff. According to Dow Jones Market Data, Apple shares have typically declined on the day of the keynote over the past decade, but have gone on to gain roughly 14% on average over the following three months.

Bank of America remains bullish on Apple stock

Bank of America maintained its buy rating and $380 price target on Apple shares after the event.

The firm said WWDC 2026 delivered a meaningful update to Apple’s AI strategy and reiterated a bullish call on Apple shares because of its strong capital returns, large installed base, and opportunities from future products and services, analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a research note sent to TheStreet.

Year to date, Apple shares are up 6.87%, making it the third-best performer among the Magnificent Seven group.

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Mohan noted that Apple is transforming Siri from a voice assistant into a personal assistant that can understand user context, analyze on-screen information, search across apps, and perform actions on a user’s behalf.

“Siri AI capabilities span across personal context, on-screen awareness, app actions, broad knowledge, image understanding, and richer conversational experiences,” Mohan said. “Apple showed that AI is becoming a central, horizontal layer across its ecosystem.”

Related: Morgan Stanley sees major upside for Apple stock ahead of WWDC

Bank of America also highlighted Apple’s investment in its own Apple Foundation Models, which power many of the new features announced at WWDC.

The firm said Apple’s models are designed to run both on-device and in the cloud, allowing the company to offer more advanced features while preserving performance and security. The analysts added that Apple’s cloud infrastructure relies primarily on Apple-designed hardware and software.

Privacy remains a key part of the company’s strategy.

“Apple emphasized that truly useful AI needs to be grounded in a user’s personal context but wrapped in a privacy-first architecture,” Mohan wrote.

Beyond AI, Bank of America also pointed to Apple’s expansion of child safety tools and parental controls as another example of the company’s focus on user protection.

Apple has other growth drivers beyond AI

Apple shares had rallied ahead of WWDC for reasons beyond artificial intelligence.

Sentiments are lifted by Apple’s strong financial results and demand for iPhones, as well as expectations that new products, including a future foldable iPhone, could support more growth. 

On April 30, Apple reported fiscal second-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations. Revenue was $111.18 billion, above analysts’ estimates of $109.66 billion. Earnings came in at $2.01 per share, topping expectations of $1.95.

Related: Citi revisits Broadcom stock price target after post-earnings selloff

“Today Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment,” CEO Tim Cooksaid in the earnings release statement. “iPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fueled by such extraordinary demand for the iPhone 17 lineup.”

In that quarter, iPhone sales climbed 22% from a year earlier to $56.99 billion, though the figure came in slightly below analysts’ expectations of $57.21 billion, CNBC reported.

Year to date, Apple shares are up 6.87%, making it the third-best performer among the Magnificent Seven group. Only Alphabet and Nvidia stocks have posted stronger gains, rising 16.38% and 11.63%, respectively, according to Morningstar data.

Related: Cathie Wood buys $8.7M of tumbling semiconductor stock