Never mind the iPhones. Augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) will be the big themes at Apple’s (AAPL) Worldwide Developers Conference this week.
After all, that’s where other tech giants like Amazon.com (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) are innovating. Will its iOS mobile operating system get new functionality to support AR for games and media? Will its Siri AI digital assistant get smarter and be integrated with its Beats speakers? Will there be new healthcare tools for exercise or accessing medical records? Analysts also see the potential for minor upgrades to its Mac computers.
Overall the event isn’t likely to have much direct financial impact, like an earnings report. But it comes at an interesting time for the shares. Remember that AAPL exploded higher in early May on strong earnings and news that famed investor Warren Buffett had increased his stake in the company. It’s also the biggest member of the technology sector, which remains the strongest major group so far this and recently flashed a bullish technical pattern. And, don’t forget that other stocks and indexes in the space have recently shown some bullish patterns.
The keynote today is at 1 p.m. ET, and the conference ends on Friday, June 8.
Did you know AAPL shot up the rankings of most active stocks for TradeStation customers last month? Click here for more.