Shares of Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. both rose Thursday to notch their highest closes in more than a year. Apple AAPL, +1.37% shares gained 1.4% in Thursday trading to reach their best closing level since April 5, 2022, when they finished at $175.06, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The stock finished Thursday’s session at $175.05 after rising for the second session in a row. Shares of Alphabet GOOG, +1.68% GOOGL, +1.65% advanced 1.7% in Thursday action to log their highest close since April 25, 2022, when they ended the session at $123.07. Alphabet shares closed Thursday at $122.83 after logging their third consecutive session of gains. The moves mark the continuation of a strong year for Apple and Alphabet shares, which have rallied 35% and 39%, respectively, as the S&P 500 SPX, +0.94% has increased 9%. See also: ChatGPT launches iPhone app for iOS; Android coming soon Alphabet, which recently crossed back above the $1.5 trillion market-capitalization threshold, sparked some investor concern earlier in the year as Wall Street weighed whether Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT, +1.44% investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI would translate into search market-share gains at Google’s expense. But “the investment community has rightfully determined that Google is in good shape around AI,” a Barclays analyst wrote earlier in the week following various May announcements from Google regarding its artificial-intelligence efforts.
The big question now, according to Barclays, is whether Google’s own AI initiatives will eat into the near-term revenue potential of the company’s core search business. Alphabet has earned some new fans in the meantime, with several big funds recently disclosing new positions in the name opened during the first quarter. Read: AI could give a big boost to profit margins — but there’s one key unknown, Goldman Sachs says
Source : [Apple and Alphabet shares close at highest levels in over a year](www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-and-alphabet-shares-close-at-highest-levels-in-over-a-year-6666e0fe?mod=newsviewer_click) undefined - Market / May 18, 2023
