Apple Inc. stock rose in Monday’s premarket trading as investor sentiment improved ahead of the opening bell, with Nasdaq futures climbing 1.6% and S&P 500 futures gaining 0.97%. Apple’s early gains largely tracked the broader rally, and the stock is trading near a key resistance level around its recent highs ahead of Apple’s quarterly earnings report later this week. Regarding Apple’s artificial intelligence strategy, unlike Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., Apple is not spending heavily on AI infrastructure or developing large foundation models, instead leaning on its large installed base of consumer devices. Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani told CNBC on Friday that Apple appears to view foundation models as less critical to long-term differentiation. Needham analyst Laura Martin told CNBC on Saturday that Apple has chosen to position itself as the primary gateway between consumers and AI services, making a high-stakes wager that it can succeed without developing its own large AI model; she believes Apple has made the wrong choice. The key question for investors is whether Apple Intelligence can drive a new hardware upgrade cycle, with faster iPhone replacement rates and improving demand in China as important metrics. Apple traded at $334.00, just below its 52-week high of $334.99.