apple (AAPL) The stock hit a record high on Monday ahead of the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, known as WWDC. The consumer electronics giant is expected to unveil its long-awaited mixed reality glasses at the conference.
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Apple kicked off WWDC at 10 a.m. PT with a keynote presentation led by Apple CEO Tim Cook. The company is holding the conference at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The show kicked off with the introduction of Mac computers and a new operating system. Also, Apple showed off the 15-inch MacBook Air notebook computer.
Check back here for updates while the keynote is in progress.
Apple shares rise ahead of the WWDC conference
In today’s stock market midday trading, Apple stock jumped to an all-time high of 184.72. Apple shares hit a previous record high of 182.94 in January 2022.
At WWDC, Apple will be updating developers on its latest operating systems for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
But a mixed reality headset, potentially called Apple Reality Pro, is likely to headline this year’s WWDC conference.
News leaks before the show point to a superlative gadget that combines virtual and augmented reality. The device is rumored to be priced around $3,000. It will run on a new operating system, which could be called xrOS or RealityOS, according to media and analyst reports.
Media reports indicate that with the headset, wearers can play immersive games, experience sports and concerts in 360-degree surround video and audio, and make FaceTime calls.
AAPL stock gets higher price target
Ahead of WWDC, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring raised his price target for Apple stock to 190 from 185 and maintained the overweight rating.
“AR/VR has the potential to become Apple’s next $20 billion+ computing platform,” Woodring said in a note to clients Friday.
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani maintained his outperformance rating on Apple stock and raised the price target to 210 from 190 on Sunday.
Daryanani expects a slow ramp for Apple’s mixed reality headset, given its high price. In his note to customers, he predicted sales of more than 10 million units in the first five years.
Low bar set for apple headphones
Furthermore, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett reiterated the Buy rating on Apple stock with a price target of 198.
In a note on Monday, he said “the bar is set low” for Apple’s mixed reality headset.
“Nobody expects this to be a financially meaningful product in the near term,” Crockett said. “But the hope is that it appears to be an interesting effort that can gain momentum over time.”
Meanwhile, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives maintained his outperform rating on Apple stock with a price target of 205.
While other AR headsets have shown tepid success, such as meta‘s (metaQuest, we believe Apple’s Reality Pro will bring many applications and use cases that will characterize this new product within the Cupertino hardware arsenal,” Ives said in a note on Sunday.
Also, Ives expects initial shipments of approximately 150,000 units in Reality Pro’s first year.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @employee For more stories on consumer technologies, software and semiconductor stocks.
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