While iPhone 17 successes will drive Apple's fourth quarter, investment firm Wedbush says that the right AI plan and partnerships will make Apple stock even more compelling in the future.

The unexpectedly high demand for the iPhone 17 range prompted Wedbush to raise its Apple target price to $310 in September 2025. Now in a new note to investors seen by AppleInsider, the company is sticking with that price target, and adds the prediction that AI will yet add greatly to the stock in the next few years.

Specifically, Wedbush expects that Apple will readily beat market expectations when it announces its Q4 earnings on October 30. Analysts from the investment firm say that they are seeing evidence of stronger demand than the market's consensus, particularly in the US and China.

Wedbush says that the iPhone Air, in particular, is seeing higher demand than anticipated, and especially in China. This is despite increased competition in the country, although it goes against other firms predictions that the iPhone Air has not done as well as Apple expected.

The investment firm further notes that Apple's current demand has come despite it not having successful Apple Intelligence additions. Consequently, if Apple is able to execute on its AI plans, the analysts predict a $75 to $100 rise per share over an unspecified coming few years.

Wedbush in particular believes that this is the right time for Apple to pursue more AI partnerships. That's in part because of how Google and Apple have been allowed to retain their deal over the default search engine on iPhones.

So Wedbush argues that it's a good time for the two companies to continue their AI partnership. Apple has long said that it would be adding more third-party AI tools alongside its existing deal with OpenAI.

Google Gemini is expected to be the next addition.

Before any such addition, and before its latest earnings call, Apple stock has already reached an all-time high of $262.42 on October 20. The improvement comes after a year where tariff concerns drastically lowered Apple's valuation, but successful moves by Tim Cook to handle the Trump administration have seen the stock rebound.

Premarket trading on October 21, 2025 saw Apple down slightly overnight after big gains on October 20. The market is expected to open with Apple stock at around $261.50.

Should it reach or exceed $268.26, though, Apple will then be worth $4 trillion.