Premarket Movers: AAPL Gains On China AI Approval Report — Why WMT, NFLX Stocks Are Also Rising

Apple has been preparing to introduce its AI platform in mainland China following a lengthy regulatory delay.

• Apple Inc. shares rose after Tim Cook reportedly confirmed that Apple Intelligence was approved in China.
• Walmart gained after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and raised its price target.
• Netflix rose after Jefferies initiated coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating, citing monetization opportunities and margin expansion as growth drivers.

Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) were trading in the green in the premarket session on Thursday amid reports that Apple Intelligence had received approval in China. Apple has been preparing to introduce its AI platform in China after a lengthy regulatory delay kept the features off the market.

Meanwhile, Walmart (WMT) stock was also among the gainers following a Deutsche Bank upgrade. Similarly, Netflix (NFLX) shares also rose after Jefferies initiated coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating.

Apple Intelligence Approved In China

AAPL shares gained about 0.7% after a China Daily report said Tim Cook confirmed Apple Intelligence has been approved in the country, with a test version expected later this month. The initial release is likely to include real-time translation, writing tools and image cleanup. However, the report says AI-powered Siri will not be part of the first rollout.

A day earlier, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published updated telecom equipment network access license records showing that Apple’s first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo (China model A3721), completed a license renewal on Sept. 29.

Deutsche Bank Upgrades Walmart

WMT stock gained 2.2% in premarket trading after Deutsche Bank upgraded the retailer to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and raised its price target to $136 from $113.

The firm sees a more favorable setup for the stock heading into 2027. It expects the current inflationary environment to reinforce Walmart’s value proposition and accelerate market-share gains.

Deutsche Bank also expects margins to improve as Walmart’s higher-margin businesses grow faster than its core retail operations.

Netflix Gains After Jefferies Initiates Coverage

NFLX shares rose 0.7% in premarket trading after Jefferies initiated coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating and $85 price target. The firm sees monetization opportunities, scale-driven margin expansion, and share repurchases supporting more than 14% annual earnings growth over the next decade.

Jefferies also believes greater visibility into Netflix’s capital allocation and engagement trends could create a favorable setup for the shares in 2027. This should help drive multiple expansion from the “currently depressed levels as focus shifts back to NFLX's attractive EPS algorithm,” the firm told investors in a research note.

AAPL, WMT, NFLX Stocks: Stocktwits Retail Sentiment

At the time of writing, retail sentiment toward Apple was ‘bearish,’ unchanged in the past 24 hours, while message volume was ‘normal.’ AAPL shares have gained nearly 26% year-to-date.

Walmart also had ‘bearish’ sentiment, while message volume was ‘high.’ WMT shares have risen around 4% since the beginning of this year.

The sentiment for Netflix was ‘bearish’ too, amid ‘low’ message volume. NFLX stock has declined around 25% this year. 

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