Wall Street is calling out for the "golden growth age" as Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) stock prices hit a new high.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives maintains an "outperform" rating on Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) and raises the target price from $300 to $325, setting a new Wall Street high. Ives expects this tech giant to enter a "golden growth era" by 2025. As a result of this news, Apple Inc. stock hit a new all-time high during Thursday's trading. Ives stated, "We believe that Apple Inc. is entering a multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle driven by artificial intelligence, which is still underestimated by Wall Street. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was Apple Inc.'s artificial intelligence strategy, but the seeds of Apple Inc.'s intelligence strategy are forming and will change Apple Inc.'s consumer growth narrative in the coming years." Ives believes that a series of artificial intelligence applications under development will accelerate the growth of Apple Inc.'s service revenue and catalyze iPhone upgrades in the next 12 to 18 months. Meanwhile, research firm BTIG urged investors to remain cautious about Apple Inc. stock on Thursday. BTIG analyst Jonathan Krinsky pointed out that Apple Inc. stock has risen by 2% or more for the fifth consecutive week last week. Following this trend, a one-month forward return is quite unfavorable for the company. Krinsky stated, "With Apple Inc. becoming the world's highest market value company once again, with a market value approaching $4 trillion, we are cautious about the stock performance in January next year." Apple Inc. stock hit $260 in early trading on Thursday, reaching an intraday high, before slightly retracing gains. The stock ultimately closed up 0.3% at $259, setting a closing record. Apple Inc. faced a difficult start in 2024, with weak iPhone sales, intensified competition in the Chinese market, and antitrust regulations putting pressure on the stock. Early data for the iPhone 16 series did not boost Wall Street's confidence, leading investment firm Jefferies Financial Group Inc. to rare downgrade the rating of Apple Inc. stock. Despite this, including Ives, other analysts are still bullish on Apple Inc. stock, as more positive iPhone shipment data has bolstered confidence in Apple Inc.'s artificial intelligence strategy. Apple Inc.'s fourth-quarter financial report released in early November showed that iPhone sales exceeded expectations, despite overall performance falling short of expectations. With the release of the new MacBook Pro series by Apple Inc. and the addition of artificial intelligence features to the iPhone, iPad, and macOS in mid-December, Apple Inc. stock began to climb to new highs in early November. Over the past month, Apple Inc. has outperformed several of the so-called "big seven". During this period, Apple Inc. stock rose by over 11%, Meta by 6.7%, Microsoft Corporation by 4.4%, and NVIDIA Corporation by 1%. However, macroeconomic uncertainty may negatively impact Apple Inc. The tariffs imposed by Trump on China may affect the prices of Apple Inc. products assembled in China, with the worst-case scenario being a $256 increase in the cost of each iPhone. The extent of the rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2025 may be lower than expected, sparking concerns over high interest rates and persistent inflation, which could weaken consumer confidence.