Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR.) shares have resumed their upward flight path recently. After a period of consolidation between early March and mid-June, they’ve surged to new all-time highs.

Wondering where they could be trading by the end of 2026? Here’s ChatGPT’s take…

Can we trust AI?

I’d never rely on ChatGPT or any other generative AI app for stock market financials and price forecasts. Not only are these apps prone to making mistakes but you just don’t know where they’re getting their data from.

But for a bit of fun, I asked ChatGPT where it sees Rolls–Royce shares heading in 2026? I was curious to see what it would say and how it would arrive at its conclusion.

ChatGPT’s price targets

Interestingly, it told me that it sees Rolls-Royce shares ending 2026 at a price of £17-£18. It added that its central case was £17.50.

If you forced me to give one number for 31 December 2026: £17.50.

ChatGPT on Rolls-Royce

It then gave me a bear case, a base case, and a bull case with three different price targets. These were £13-£14.50, £16.50-£18, and £19-21+ respectively.

Red flags

You can see here that it’s already getting a bit confused. One minute it’s telling me that its central case is £17.50 while the next it’s telling me that its base case is £16.50-£18 – where the mid-point is £17.25.

The problem here is that it’s just pulling in data from random websites. It isn’t doing any real number-crunching itself. I’m also going to call it out on its assumptions. It told me that its base case involves “gradual multiple expansion”.

However, Rolls-Royce’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is already very high at 37. So I’m not sure there’s a lot of room for multiple expansion in the next few months.

Is £17.50 realistic?

Personally, I think ChatGPT’s target of £17.50 could be a stretch this year. To see that forecast hit, the shares would have to rise another 14% or so in four-and-a-half months.

That kind of rise in that timeframe is certainly possible. I just don’t think it’s a high probability given that the shares are up around 30% this year already and trade at a lofty valuation today.

Better opportunities today?

I could see them hitting £17.50 over the next 12-18 months. I’m assuming here that full-year 2026 results next year are strong with earnings per share up significantly, that there are no major setbacks for the business, and that investor sentiment towards the aerospace and defence stock remains very bullish (no market meltdown).

Having said all that, I’m not in a rush to buy the shares at current levels. Because I think we’re likely to see some market volatility over the next year that throws up better entry points.

I’m also seeing lots of other opportunities in the market right now. And some of these opportunities have far more return potential in the medium term, in my view.

Should you invest £5,000 in Rolls-Royce Plc right now?

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Edward Sheldon does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.