Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the AI Stocks Making Waves on Wall Street. On July 9, Wedbush reiterated its “Outperform” rating on the stock and maintained its price target at $270.00. The rating affirmation reflects continued confidence in Apple’s potential.

Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said it’s clear Apple is incapable of producing its own AI in-house, despite a company culture that strives to build superior products internally. In recent days, some of Apple’s top AI talent has also been poached by increasingly aggressive AI talent recruiter Meta, Bloomberg reported.

Wedbush's Dan Ives said Apple should consider buying Perplexity and its AI search engine if it wants to catch up to its peers in the AI race.

Apple may be running out of time to play catch-up in the artificial intelligence race, and according to one leading tech analyst, the company's last hope to win could be acquiring an AI startup, as per a report.

Dan Ives, a well-known technology analyst at Wedbush Securities, stated that Apple is in advanced talks to acquire Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine startup backed by investors such as Nvidia and Jeff Bezos. He estimates the potential deal to be around $1.4 billion.

Apple Inc.’s stock has had a rough go of it during the first half of the year. President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused have weighed on the company, as investors continue to gauge what the full cost to its business will be.

With the stock down 20% in 2025, Apple could be poised for a comeback with a bold strategic move to bolster its AI prospects, Bank of America says.

Apple has been linked to a possible deal to acquire a major AI company. Could this be just what the company needs to turn things around and spark a rally in its share price? According to a recent report from Bloomberg,

Wedbush said Perplexity is the "no brainer" deal to help launch Apple's ( NASDAQ: AAPL) AI strategy. The firm has an Outperform rating and $270 price target on Apple's stock.

AI giants OpenAI and Perplexity are launching search browsers powered by AI as Google continues to face anti-competition lawsuits and fines. View on euronews