Forecasting Apple's Closing Price: An Approach Based on Artificial Intelligence

Pension funds in Angola are still in an early stage, with a penetrationrate relative to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around 2%. Incontrast, developed countries such as Iceland, the Netherlands, Canada,Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom exhibit significantly higher penetration rates, often exceeding 70% of GDP. As pension funds fall under the third pillar of social protection—complementaryto mandatory social security pensions typically granted at retirementage—there is an urgent need to maximize the returns on contributionsmade to pension funds. This is essential to ensure that these funds caneffectively supplement public pensions, especially in light of increasinglife expectancy, which has prompted many countries to reassess the sustainability of their social security systems, leading in some cases to higherretirement ages and reduced pension benefits. Furthermore, pension fundsare inherently among the largest institutional investors in capital markets,the monetary market, with interest and non-interest, etc. Despite existing legislation in Angola allowing the investment of pension fund assetsin domestic and foreign equities, such investments remain rare. This article analyzes historical data on Apple Inc. stock and forecasts its futureclosing price using Artificial Intelligence (AI). The study aims to providefundamental insights that may serve as a reference for future studies andinvestment strategies by insurance companies and pension fund managersin Angola and beyond, since investments in equities may provide higherlong-term returns for Pension Fund assets and a greater retirement supplement for Pension Fund participants.