A Wall Street analyst has slightly reduced their optimism on Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) stock. Bank of America maintained its "buy" rating but lowered the target price by $10 to $240, still above the Wall Street average of around $234 according to Visible Alpha. The adjustment is due to potential profit margin compression from tariff-related costs and concerns about delayed AI features affecting device demand. Despite these concerns, Apple's stock has risen slightly, recently gaining 0.6% to over $205.
Apple is set to release its next earnings report soon, joining the ranks of major tech companies. Bank of America anticipates that "pre-buying" due to tariffs may boost recent quarterly sales, but they are lowering long-term sales forecasts to account for higher costs from a complex supply chain and the delayed rollout of AI-supported Siri.
Year-to-date, Apple shares have fallen about 18%, underperforming the S&P 500 index. Research firm Vanda noted that even as stocks like Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) see net buying, retail investors have recently been net sellers of Apple stock. Vanda's report indicated that while individual investors show mild signs of capitulation, a full-scale sell-off is unlikely in the short term.
