Apple Stock Soars 5% in Best in 18 Months as Daily AI Caps Fall to $200 & Wall Street Splits on Targets

• Apple (AAPL) stock rose 5.31% to a record $349.51, its strongest session in 18 months
• Apple reportedly cut some engineers’ daily AI spending allowances from $300 to $200
• Analyst targets diverged, with UBS and Baird at $340, Morgan Stanley at $350 and Goldman Sachs at $380

Apple stock ended Wednesday just 49 cents below Morgan Stanley’s price target. The bank had cut that target a day earlier. Buyers sent the shares to a record close, passing several other analysts’ targets along the way. Apple earnings had given Wall Street plenty to argue over, from iPhone demand to profit margins. Inside the company, some engineers are reportedly getting smaller AI allowances, even as Apple’s wider research bill keeps climbing.

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Apple Stock Passes Several Analyst Targets

AAPL stock gained 5.31% to $349.51 on November 4, its strongest session since May 2025, according to reports. UBS and Baird had both raised their targets to $340, leaving them roughly 2.7% below Wednesday’s close. Morgan Stanley trimmed its target from $355 to $350 while retaining an Overweight rating. Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast from $390 to $380, still about 8.7% above the closing price.

Quarterly revenue rose 12% to $114.5 billion, while diluted earnings per share increased 14% to $2.10, including five cents from tariff refunds. Revenue from iPhone sales climbed about 17% to $57.58 billion, Apple’s financial statements show.

Services revenue grew about 10%, with management forecasting slower growth of 8%–9% for the December quarter. Apple’s reported 47.9% gross margin included about one percentage point from tariff refunds. On its earnings call, Apple expects a December-quarter margin of 45%–46%. The firm cited higher memory costs and expenses linked with expanding Siri AI.

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Apple AI Tool Limits Fall to $200 a Day

Reports revealed that Apple reduced some engineers’ daily AI spending allowances from $300 to $200 in October. Further cuts could bring certain engineering teams’ limits to $100. Apple declined to comment. Some non-engineering groups already have $100 daily limits, and cuts to as little as $25 are under consideration.

The allowances cover employees’ use of AI models for work such as writing and debugging code. Workers needing more access can request exemptions from senior leadership.

Apple’s research spending has continued to grow. Fiscal 2026 research and development expenses reached $45.77 billion, up approximately 32.5% from $34.55 billion a year earlier.

How much the lower allowances will save remains unclear. Reports said some employees had not been using their full $300 daily allocation. Cutting the ceiling by a third therefore need not produce a matching reduction in what Apple actually pays.

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