Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) continued its remarkable run on Friday, May 22, with shares trading around $309.23 during the session, up approximately 1.4% on the day and setting a fresh intraday record.
The stock opened near $305 and pushed steadily higher through the afternoon as buyers maintained control of the tape.
AAPL has now climbed more than 58% from its 52-week low of $193.46, a surge fuelled by a powerful earnings season and shifting AI sentiment in the company’s favour.
Apple’s fiscal second-quarter results, reported earlier in May, showed revenue of $111.2 billion, representing 17% growth year-on-year, with earnings per share of $2.01 beating Wall Street estimates.
iPhone revenue alone surged 22% year-on-year to $57 billion, driven by the iPhone 17 hardware cycle and strong upgrade demand in key markets.
Gross margin of 49.3% exceeded the company’s own guidance, and net income hit a record $29.6 billion for the March quarter.
Investor sentiment has shifted meaningfully around Apple’s AI positioning, with analysts beginning to recognise that the company does not need to win the frontier AI model race to benefit from the broader adoption wave.
Apple Intelligence, the company’s proprietary on-device AI suite, received new feature additions this week, including eye-tracking accessibility tools for users with mobility challenges.
The company also made headlines after asking the US Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling that held it in contempt in its long-running dispute with Epic Games over App Store policies.
Wall Street remains bullish, with 30 out of 32 analysts carrying buy ratings on AAPL and a consensus 12-month price target of $308.65, suggesting the stock is already trading near fair value at current levels.
The 52-week high of $305.54 was surpassed on Friday, meaning the session established a new milestone in Apple’s stock market history.
A market capitalisation approaching $4.5 trillion makes AAPL one of the most valuable companies ever recorded on any exchange.
