MEETING IN A COUPLE HOURS FROM NOW IT COMES FROM REPORTS SAYING APPLE IS WINDING DOWN THE ELECTRIC CAR PROJECT. THIS AFTER TEN YEARS. SHIFTING SOME OF THE PEOPLE ON THAT EFFORT TO A.I. LET'S BRING IN A PANEL HERE. GILL LORI, A NEUTRAL RATING ON THE STOCK. DAN IVES, OF COURSE OUR VIEWERS KNOW, HE LIKES APPLE, HAS A PRICE TARGET OF 250. AND DAN, JUST GIVE ME YOUR QUICK TAKE ON THIS REPORTED MOVE OUT OF AUTOS. WE'VE BEEN WAITING AND WAITING. NOT THAT WE EVER THOUGHT WE'D SEE A CAR, AND POTENTIALLY TAKING SOME OF THOSE RESOURCES AND PUTTING THEM INTO GENERATIVE A.I. EFFORTS. >> YEAH, THEY HAD RIPPED THE BAND-AID OFF. IT WAS CLEAR THIS WAS PUTTING GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD. INVESTORS WANT TO SEE THEM FOCUSED ALL IN ON A.I. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN A PAINFUL PERIOD GOING THROUGH IN TERMS OF STARTS AND STOPS ON THE EV INITIATIVES. I THINK THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL. THE SMART MOVE FOR COOK AND CUPERTINO. I THINK IT'S A STEP FORWARD AND PUTS THE CHAPTER IN THE PAST. >> GILL YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MOVE AS WELL? >> WHEN APPLE ORIGINALLY TRIED TO GET INTO THE CAR MARKET THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A WINNER TAKES MOST MARKET WHERE THEY COULD GET 50% MARGIN AND MOST OF THE VALUE IN THE CAR WOULD BE IN THE COMPUTING PLATFORM. THAT WAS BECAUSE TESLA WAS HAVING SUCH GREAT SUCCESS AND IT WAS EASY TO EXTRAPOLATE THAT. AS WE SIT HERE TODAY, IN THE EV TROUGH OF DISALLUSIONMENT, THEY SEE THE CAR MARKET IS STILL FRAGMENTED, MOST OF THE VALUE IS NOT YET IN THE COMPUTE. THEY CAN'T GET TO 50% MARGINS THERE. SO THEY'RE STEPPING BACK AND INVESTING IN A.I. WHICH HAS FAR MORE POTENTIAL FOR THEM, ESPECIALLY IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. >> DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE, DAN, OF HOW MUCH CAPITAL THEY PUT FORWARD FOR THIS ENDEAVOR OVER THE YEARS? >> IT'S BILLIONS. IT COULD POTENTIALLY BE UP TO 8 TO 10 BILLION IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SPENT. FOR APPLE, THEY'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE WHERE THEY SPEND FOR PRODUCTS THAT NEVER LEFT APPLE PARK. BUT THIS WAS AN INITIATIVE THAT COOK AND I THINK WITHIN APPLE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO LAUNCH. BUT AS GILL TALKED ABOUT, WRITING WAS ON THE WALL, AND THEY'LL TALK ABOUT IT AT THE SHAREHOLDER DAY, ALL FOCUS ON A.I. BECAUSE AS A.I. COMES TO THE APPLE E CCOSYSTEM, THAT TO ME I THE GOLDEN GOOSE. THAT'S WHERE THEY MONETIZE. >> YOU'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THAT. OF COURSE WE HAVEN'T REALLY SEEN ANY TRUE EVIDENCE OF IT. YOU EXPECT THAT TOWARDS THE SECOND HALF OF THIS YEAR, RIGHT? WE'RE GOING TO SEE SOMETHING WHEN IT COMES TO THIS EFFORT? >> YEAH. IT'S TWO COMPONENTS. ONE IS THE APP STORE, THE A.I. APP STORE THEY'LL TALK ABOUT THAT AT WWDC IN JUNE, THAT'S GOING TO BE A SEPARATE APP STORE FOR A.I. AND THE BIG ONE IS GOING TO BE INCORPORATING A.I. INTO iPHONE 16. I THINK THAT COMBO SPEAKS TO NOW WHAT YOU'RE SEEING ACROSS THE BOARD IN COUPEUPERTINO, ALL HANN DECK WHEN IT COMES TO A.I. >> I WANT TO GET BACK TO THE SHAREHOLDER MEETING. YOU SAY THERE SHOULD BE A FOCUS ON PERHAPS CAPITAL RETURN. WHY? >> APPLE CAN RETURN A LOT MORE CASH THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW. RIGHT NOW TALKING ABOUT HALF A PERCENT DIVIDEND YIELD AND TWO AND A HALF PERCENT OF THE MARKET CAP THEY BOUGHT BACK. FAR MORE CASH, WHILE THEY'RE GROWING LOW SINGLE DIGITS THEY SHOULD BE RETURNING MORE CASH. AND I WANT TO BUILD ON WHAT DAN SAID ABOUT A.I. WHAT WE NEED TO HEAR FROM THEM ISN'T JUST INCREMENTAL THINGS LIKE PHOTO TOUCHUPS AND AUTO COMPLETE AND TEXT. WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR IS ABOUT AN ASSISTANT. I WANT TO SAY, HEY, APPLE ASSISTANT, BOOK ME A RESTAURANT TOMORROW NIGHT WITH MY BOYS NEAR THE CONCERT VENUE AT AROUND 7:00 AND IT CAN DO THAT. AND APPLE IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO DO THAT. AND TO DAN'S POINT, IT NEEDS TO BE TIE
