$Apple (AAPL.US)$A new artificial intelligence (AI) feature was launched at the WWDC24 global developer conference on Monday, attracting market attention. Several Wall Street companies were impressed by yesterday's keynote speech, with some calling it a "milestone moment" for artificial intelligence.

DA Davison raised Apple's rating from 'neutral' to 'buy' with a target price of $230.

DA Davison analyst Gil Luria said that the integration of summarization, enhanced search, multimodality, text generation, and better photo editing features may propel the widespread use of AI, much like the shift from Napster to iTunes at the turn of the century.

Luria also noted that Apple is now the first company to introduce 'meaningful agent functionality,' letting Siri perform tasks on behalf of users. The updated voice assistant can now perform actions across applications, answer questions about how to use the device, and offer 'screen-awareness' features, so users only have to say to add an address to a contact, and Siri will perform that function.

Luria said that Apple also has the trust of consumers to responsibly perform such tasks (prioritizing privacy first), adding that other ways of interacting with AI (chat applications, personal computers, and Android) may not be able to fully replicate it.

Changing the iPhone game?

Wall Street companies, including Wedbush Securities, are impressed with Apple's AI products, and many believe this could stimulate consumers to upgrade their iPhone.

Wedbush Securities rates Apple as 'outperforming the market' with a target price of $275.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said: 'Overall, Apple introduced many new software enhancement features, which is another 'showing muscle' moment for the company. It will enter a strong product cycle in the next 6-9 months. iPhone 16 will be released later this fall and enter its huge user group.'

Bank of America rates Apple as 'buy' with a target price of $230; Bernstein rates Apple as 'outperforming the market' with a target price of $195.

Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan and Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi also believe that AI products may trigger an iPhone upgrade wave.

Mohan said, "These features can be used on fairly new devices (iPhone 15 pro/pro max and iPad/Mac with M1 chip or higher version) and we believe this may trigger an upgrade cycle for AI smartphones as consumers seek to improve their productivity through new features."

Sacconaghi said: 'We believe Apple's statement at the Worldwide Developers Conference reiterated our belief that due to its AI features, Apple may see a stronger upgrade cycle for the iPhone 16.'

Overall, Wall Street analysts are generally bullish on Apple, giving it a 'buy' rating.

As of the time of publication, Apple's stock rose by 3.42% to $199.73, reaching a high of $200 during the day and setting a new historical record.

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