Apple stock hits record high on new Siri AI beta rollout

On Wednesday, July 15, 2026, Apple shares climbed to record highs following the release of iOS 27 public beta, which includes a redesigned Siri AI. The stock closed up 4.01% at $327.50, significantly outpacing the Nasdaq's modest 0.5% gain, and touched an intraday 52-week high of $328.73.

Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, highlighted Apple's outperformance and detailed his reaction to the new Siri beta. "The new Siri AI in iOS 27 public beta released yesterday gives investors concrete evidence that Apple finally has the AI chops it's long been missing," Munster posted on X. After testing the beta for a day, he wrote: "I can attest it's like having a new phone." Munster framed this moment as parallel to the setup that "fueled Google's sharp rerating in April 2025," suggesting that demonstrable AI progress can trigger meaningful stock repricing.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo corroborated the bullish sentiment, noting that the rally was consistent with his own earlier prediction. "I rarely make public calls on stock price trends," Kuo wrote on X, but said he had made an exception ahead of WWDC 2026, when he forecast that Apple would enjoy a positive share-price trend in the second half of 2026 as long as its "core bull narrative" remained intact. Despite a post-WWDC sell-off and investor concerns over product price increases, Kuo observed that Apple has since reached an intraday all-time high, "consistent with the trend I forecast a month ago." This alignment suggests that Apple Intelligence and the new Siri capability have reinforced the longer-term narrative Kuo had been tracking.

Apple's stock surge reflects a turning point in investor perception of the company's artificial intelligence strategy. Gene Munster's characterization of the new Siri AI as feeling "like having a new phone" carries weight because it comes from hands-on testing—a concrete positive signal that Apple has moved beyond promises into demonstrable capability. The 4% outperformance against the Nasdaq's 0.5% gain shows investors are specifically rewarding Apple's progress, not riding a broad market tailwind.

Ming-Chi Kuo's comment that the rally matches his earlier forecast adds credibility to the narrative. He had positioned himself before WWDC 2026 as bullish on Apple's second-half-2026 stock momentum, provided the company's core investment thesis remained sound. Despite a post-conference sell-off and market concerns about product pricing, Apple has now validated his thesis by reaching an intraday all-time high. The comparison Munster drew to Google's "sharp rerating in April 2025" suggests that concrete AI demonstrations can unlock significant multiple expansion—a blueprint investors may now see Apple following.