Prediction: Apple Will Soar Over the Next 5 Years. Here's 1 Reason Why.

Source The Motley Fool

There's no denying it. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was not only late to the artificial intelligence party, but it has struggled to catch up.

While the world was admittedly interested in Apple Intelligence's features unveiled in June of last year, demand for this tech -- as well as hardware that can handle it -- has been ho-hum. In fact, iPhone revenue fell during the quarter ending in December, while technology market research outfit IDC reports that unit sales of the iPhone slumped 4.1% year over year for the quarter in question. The company's AI-powered virtual assistant Siri has since been transferred to a new chief as well, after senior director Robby Walker called Apple's artificial intelligence results so far "ugly and embarrassing."

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And yes, Apple shares have underperformed this year largely because of its disappointing artificial intelligence efforts.

Then again, perhaps the market was always expecting too much too soon. As UBS analyst David Vogt recently penned, investors shouldn't "expect a significant improvement to Apple Intelligence over the next 12 months even with the upcoming [iPhone] 17 series in the fall of 2025," echoing timeline concerns voiced by Jefferies analyst Edison Lee and Wedbush's Dan Ives.

All three analysts, however, see AI-driven growth for Apple on the horizon once the company makes Apple Intelligence more marketable. In this vein, investment research house Imarc predicts the intelligent virtual assistant market is set to grow at an annualized pace of 26% through 2033. The market's likely to see this growth coming sooner rather than later, however, and simply sensing what awaits could be enough to (re)light a fire under this stock.

Analysts see it coming anyway. The analyst community's current 12-month consensus price target for Apple stands at $253.71 per share, up 15% from the stock's present price. Most of these analysts also rate Apple stock as at least a buy at this time.

The only missing ingredient is a catalyst convincing investors that Apple's AI efforts are back on track. The only problem? Once such a catalyst materializes, it may then be too late to step into a stake.

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James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Jefferies Financial Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Author  FXStreet
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Author  Mitrade
2 hours ago
Bitcoin has dropped back below $88,000 after rolling over from $90,500, with price still trading under the 100-hour Simple Moving Average. The sell-off found a floor at $85,151, and BTC is now consolidating near that base, but rebounds are facing pressure from a bearish trend line around $89,000. Bulls need to retake $88,000–$89,000 to ease downside risk; failure to do so keeps $85,500–$85,000 and then $83,500 in play, with $80,000 as the deeper “line in the sand.” Bitcoin (BTC) is back in damage-control mode after a sharp pullback wiped out recent gains. The price failed to reclaim the $90,000–$90,500 band, rolled over, and slid through $88,500 before briefly dipping under $87,000. Buyers did show up around $85,000, but the rebound so far looks more like stabilization than a clear trend reversal. Bitcoin dips hard, finds a bid near $85,000(h3) BTC’s latest move lower began when it couldn’t build follow-through above $90,000 and $90,500. Once that upside stalled, sellers took control and pushed price down through $88,500. The slide accelerated enough to spike below $87,000, but the market didn’t free-fall. Bulls defended the $85,000 zone, printing a low at $85,151. Since then, Bitcoin has been consolidating below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the drop from the $93,560 swing high to the $85,151 low — a clue that the bounce is still shallow and that sellers haven’t fully backed off yet. Structurally, BTC is still on the back foot: It’s trading below $88,000, and It remains below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average, keeping short-term trend pressure pointed downward. Resistance is layered, and $89,000 is the problem area(h3) If bulls try to turn this into a recovery, they’ll have to climb through multiple ceilings in quick succession. First, BTC faces resistance around $87,150, followed by a more meaningful barrier near $87,500. From there, the market’s attention snaps back to $88,000 — the level BTC just lost and now needs to reclaim. A close back above $88,000 would improve the tone, but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue: there’s a bearish trend line on the hourly BTC/USD chart (Kraken feed) with resistance near $89,000, which also lines up with the next technical hurdle. If BTC can push through $89,000 and hold, the rebound could extend toward $90,000, with follow-through targets at $91,000 and $91,500. But until price clears that $88,000–$89,000 zone, rallies are at risk of being sold rather than chased. If BTC fails to reclaim resistance, the downside path is clear(h3) The near-term bear case is simple: if Bitcoin can’t climb back above the $87,000 area and keep traction, sellers may attempt another leg lower. Support levels line up like this: Immediate support: $85,500 First major support: $85,000 Next support: $83,500 Then $82,500 in the near term Below that, the major “don’t break this” level is still $80,000. If BTC slips under $80,000, the risk of acceleration to the downside increases significantly — not because it’s magic, but because it’s the kind of psychological and structural level that tends to trigger forced de-risking. Indicators: momentum still leans bearish(h3) The intraday indicators aren’t offering much comfort yet: Hourly MACD is losing pace in the bearish zone. Hourly RSI remains below 50, suggesting sellers still have the upper hand on short timeframes. So while the $85,000 defense held for now, the market hasn’t flipped bullish — it’s just stopped bleeding.
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