Meta's AI Assistant Sparks Concerns Over Apple's App Store Economics

Bank of America has maintained its Buy rating and $370 price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) despite warning about a potential competitive threat to the company's App Store economics.

The analyst, Wamsi Mohan, points out that AI agents like Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ: META) Muse assistant are changing how users interact with digital services. These agents can browse websites, complete forms, and execute transactions on behalf of users without them ever opening an app directly.

Mohan argues that whoever controls these agents will collect the routing economics that previously flowed to operating systems, search engines, and app stores. He notes that Meta's Muse assistant has secured access to commerce services from Shopify, Expedia, and PayPal, giving it the ability to complete purchases and bookings on behalf of users across multiple major platforms.

However, Amazon has moved to block Muse, demonstrating that access to large commerce ecosystems is not guaranteed. Bank of America does not expect Muse to generate meaningful revenue from ads, subscriptions, or commissions before 2028, but sees the threat as directionally significant.