Investors looking to invest in artificial intelligence don’t need to put all their money into semiconductor stocks. There’s another way to get exposure to emerging technology, says Piper Sandler: Warby Parker. The investment firm, which is overweight the stock, raised its price target for Warby Parker from $22 to $32. The new target implies an upside of 19.2%. Analyst Anna Andreeva mentioned the eyewear company’s plans to roll out AI-enabled glasses. Warby Parker announced in December that it would partner with Google and Samsung to launch AI EyeGear next year, a move that could expand the company’s customer base and sales, Piper said in a note to clients. “While the exact timing (exact time frame, ASP, economics of the partnership, etc.) is unknown, as a second entrant in this space, WRBY has the advantage of being able to leverage existing awareness around smart glasses, which could also be an important new customer acquisition tool (customers discover that WRBY offers eye exams, takes insurance, and all at a compelling value),” Andreeva said in the note. According to Polaris Market Research, demand for AI glasses is expected to grow over the next decade, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 12% from 2025 to 2034. However, the number of AI glasses on store shelves is still small, with Ray-Ban’s Meta glasses model accounting for the majority of the market. That leaves plenty of room for Warby Parker and other latecomers to enter the AI glasses market, Piper said. “Awareness and affinity for AI eyewear adoption is much higher now than it was in 2022,” Andreeva wrote. The company predicts that Warby Parker will sell 300,000 AI frames in the first year of launch, and that number will increase to 1 million in the second year and 2 million in the third year. “Given that most of the work to raise awareness of AI glasses is likely being done by Essilor and Meta, and that the product is expected to have more features compared to the original Ray-Ban Stories, we believe 300,000 units for Warby in 2026 is achievable,” Andreeva said. Additionally, Piper Sandler predicts that Warby Parker’s smart glasses could account for 30% of prescription lens sales in 2026, surpassing the 20% prescription-linked sales recorded by RayBand Meta in manufacturer EssilorLuxottica’s third-quarter earnings call. Warby Parker is up more than 8% since the beginning of the year
