Apple will need to “get aggressive” communicating its artificial intelligence strategy to justify its valuation, tech investor Paul Meeks said. “The stock’s getting really expensive,” Meeks told CNBC’s ” Squawk Box ” on Monday. “At some point, they’re going to have to join the rest of the FAANGs and be much more aggressive about articulating their AI strategy.” AAPL YTD mountain Apple shares YTD The portfolio manager at Independent Solutions Wealth Management said Apple will have to discuss how AI can bolster its business soon, which it hasn’t done to the same degree as its fellow mega-cap peers such as Alphabet, Microsoft or Meta. The chief executives of all three of those firms discussed AI dozens of times in recent earnings calls, according to a CNBC analysis of transcripts. During May’s Apple earnings call CEO Tim Cook mentioned AI just twice, in part because the company generates the bulk of its sales from iPhones. Meeks said he expects solid results from Apple when it discusses earnings on Thursday. However, he expects the iPhone maker will have to outline how AI can boost its operating margins to drive continued upside for the stock. Shares of Apple are higher by 50% in 2023. “I think what they’ll do is they’ll talk about the efficiencies internally that AI brings,” Meeks said. “Could be just the trick but they’re going to have to articulate it. If they don’t do it soon, they’ll have an upcoming analyst meeting and I bet that will be a focus.” Separately, Meeks said he will not be buying shares of Amazon into its earnings report, also this week, citing slower growth in Amazon Web Services. — Kif Leswing contributed to this report.
