** Shares of Apple Inc were up 2% in afternoon trading Thurs ahead of the iPhone maker's quarterly results due after the closing bell
** Apple is expected to report its biggest quarterly rev decline in more than a yr. It is due to report rev of $90.011 bln from $94.836 bln in the yr-ago period, while it is expected to post earnings of $1.50/shr vs $1.52 a yr ago, according to LSEG
** Investors are likely to focus most, however, on Apple's plan to add generative AI to its iPhones and revive sales in the Chinese market
** On Monday, Apple shares rose after Bernstein Societe Generale Group upgraded the stock to an "outperform" rating and noted prospects for phone replacement phone sales. The brokerage also noted that weakness in the China market is more cyclical than structural
** Bloomberg reported recently that Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup's generative AI technology to power some new features being introduced in the iPhone later this year
** The co has beaten analysts' earnings expectations in seven of the past eight reporting periods, per LSEG
** AAPL options imply a 3.9% swing for the shares, in either direction, by Fri; over the last eight quarters, on average, the shares moved 3.4% the day after results, according to Trade Alert
** Analyst ratings on the stock include 27 "strong buy" or "buy" ratings, 13 "hold" ratings and two "sell" ratings, based on LSEG data
** The median 12-mo price target is $200; the stock was last at $172.71
** Apple shares are down more than 10% YTD after rising 48% in 2023, while the Dow Jones industrial average is up about 1% so far for 2024
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York)
((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com))
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